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N€UJ Z€flLfiND'S P€RSONRL COMPUT6R MfiGflZIN€ 




V41W1 



August 1985 $2.00 



AMSTRAD SHOOTS FOR THE 
SMALL BUSINESS MARKET 




Also reviewed 

Bondwell 16 
HP's Integral PC 

Software Reviews 

'Outstanding' NZ written range for Apple 

Cashlink — accounting package which accounts for GST 

Columns for top selling micros 



NEW SANYO COLUMN — starts this issue 



New Amstrad CPC 664 
The low cost computer 
for home and business 



with Colour 

Monitor 




If you know anything about 
computers you'll know that disc 
drives are up to fifty times faster 
than cassette when you're loading 
and saving program. In fact, a disc 
drive makes computing faster, 
more reliable, more efficient and 
more fun. But up till now the only 
way to gain these advantages for a 
home computer was to buy a 
separate disc drive attachment. 
Now Amstrad are pleased to 
announce the first complete home 
computer with built-in disc drive: 
The Amstrad CPC 664. 

And when you buy a CPC 664 you'll 
find it's not just the disc drive that's 
built-in. 

Youll get everything you need, 
including a monitor (green screen or 
full colour). Well even give you a free 
CPM and Logo disc, so all you do is 
plug in and you're in business. 



BUSINESS OR PLEASURE 

Although a disc drive will make 
games more fun (and there are loads 
of them to choose from) it also makes 
the CPC 664 a serious proposition for 
the business user. 

There are accounting, 
word-processing spread -sheet and 
database programs (to name but a 
few). 

The CPC 664 is also supplied with 
CP/M* to help make your business 
more efficient and effective by 
providing access to the famous range 
of CP/M* software. 




Artisoft Business Control, is a complete 
suite of programs for integrated sales 
invoicing, stock control and sales ledger. 
(Requires an additional FD-I disc drive 
and DL 2 cable). 



'CP/M is a mdrmari of r%ilal R exarch fnc, 



HIGH PERFORMANCE 
LOW COST 

The one thing you won't need a 
computer to work out is tiiat the 
Amstrad CPC 664 represents 
outstanding value for money . 

You only have to "check the cost of 
buying all the elements separately 
(64K computer, disc-drive, monitor) 
to realise that the Amstrad package 
is very hard to beat, 

With a green screen monitor the 
cost is just $1495, With a full colour 
screenit costs $1895. And after 
you've saved money on the price of 
the computer itself, you go on saving 
on the price of software. 

There are hundreds of programs for 
business or pleasure available on disc 
(and cassette) to CPC 664 users. 
Many from Amsoft, others from 
other famous- name software houses. 



AN EXPANDING 
SYSTEM 




Wordprocessing with Amsword 
can improve the productivity of 
everyone from unskilled typist to 
trained secretary. 




There is a complete range of 
peripherals available to CPC 664 
users which plug directly into the 
built-in interfaces. 

These include a joystick, additional 
disc drive (to double your on-line 
storage) and the Amstrad DMP-1 
dot-matrix printer. (There's also a 
cassette interface so that you can use 
CPC 464 program on tape). And 
there are many more peripherals 
from Amstrad and other manufact- 
urers which can be used to enhance 
the CPC 664. 



AMSTRAD, JOIN THE 
CLUB 

As a member you'll enjoy regular 
magazines, competitions for valuable 
prizes and contact with other 
Amstrad users. 

Whether you're a games fanatic 
or interested in serious commercial 
applications, youll want to join the 
club, , 




Figure analysis made easy with 
Microspread. An easy to use spreadsheet 
with pull-down menus and a wide range of 
mathematical options. 

GRAnDfTMID 



YES 




I'd like to know more about the quite exceptional CPC 664 Complete Computer 
System. 

NAME: 

ADDRESS: 



POST TO: Grandstand Computers Ltd, CPO Box 2353, Auckland. 

21 Great South Road, Newmarket, Auckland, Phone: 504-033. R^it*2e&B*s 



RITEMAN 15 



HIGH-PERFORMANCE 
BUSINESS PRINTER 




/ 




The Riteman 15 Features: 

■ Epson FX 100 compatibility 

■ Adjustable tractor feed standard 

■ Push and pull formfeed 

■ Full-size 15" carriage 

■ Front panel top-of-form control 

■ 2K or 8K memory 

■ 256 programmable characters 
(with 8K RAM) 

■ 1 28 character modes and 
6 graphics modes 

■ 1 60 character-per-second print 
speed & accelerated throughput 

■ Compact, attractive styling 

■ High quality backed by 
one-year warranty 

■ IBM character fonts optional 

■ "NLQ" optional 

■ Serial interface optional 
(parallel standard) 

■ Highly competitive price 

■ Internal buffer expandable to 
132K (optional) 






RITEiWt 



SELCQM ELECTRONICS 

2A Basin View Lane 

Panmure 
Ph: 577-199 



PORTERFIELD COMPUTERS 

415 Dominion Rd 
Mt Roskill 
Ph: 686-084 



THE COMPUTER TERMINAL 
257 Hinemoa St 
Birkenhead 
Ph: 419-0543 



MANUKAU COMPUTERS 

583 Manukau Rd 

Epsom 

Ph: 656-002 



Einstein Scientific and The Computer Experience 



present The Great 



\s advertised in •COMPUTE'S GAZETTE* Ihe RITEMAN 

PLUS' is Ihe choice of people who can* I afford to say 4 * Price is 
10 object/* 

Whether vou own a Commodore 64, Atari, Spectravideo, 
Apple, TRSSO or IBM the R ITEM AN is an excellent choice. 
\[ our special sale price of S695 we ask you to compare the 
RITEMAN PLUS with other printers that you have considered 
for your computer. 

If you've been looking Tor a rugged, versatile, dot-matrix 
printer, you're probably confused by the variety of prices, 
quality claims and specifications quoted by each manufacturer. 
When you've narrowed down your choices, here are a few hints 
to help you decide which printer is best for you. 

• How many characters per second will it print? 

• Does it run continuous as well as cut sheet? 

• Will it prim italics, underline, and run in a compressed 132 
column mode? 

• How much does the ribbon cost? 

• How does the price compare with the competition? 

Check the features. We think you'll find that there is really no 
comparison. . . Riteman. Everything you ever wanted in a 
printer, k .for less. We have only 70 printers nationwide at the 
special price of $695 and they won't last long at this price. 
Terms: Cash, Cheque, Bankcard, Visa and H,P, terms are 
available- 



RITEMAN PLUS 

Printer Sake 

SALE PRICE $5^5 
SPUE $E5Q 





FEATURES 



Print Speed 

105 CPS, Bi Directional 

Column Width 

40, 80, 66, 132 Characters per Line 

Paper Handling 

Front loading for easy paper settings. 
Built-in printer stand. 
Prints on post cards. 

Available only from 

The Computer Experience 

Einstein's ph. 64-108 The Computer Experience ph. 81-969 

154 Broadway, Palmerston North. at D.I.C. Garden Place, Hamilton. 

Einstein's ph. 851-055 Computer Experience ph. 66-442 

177 Willis Street Wellington, or 844-353 Shop 41, Cashfields Mali, Cashel Street, Christchurch, 

The Computer Experience ph. 730-348 Einstein's ph + 85-528 

James Smiths, Cuba Street, Wellington. Corner King & Egmont Streets, New Plymouth. 

MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED. EASY PAYMENT TERMS. 



Warranty 

One Year Warranty (Optional 5 Year 
Warranty) 

Software Commands 

Double strike, emphasised, compressed, 

underline, super/subscripts, italics, double 

density bit image. 

Characters 

9x9 font, true descenders, italics, 
Commodore graphics 

Other Features 

Single density bit image, expanded, reverse 



Growing 
thyour 




eeds 



Buy this NEW Personal Computer 
with more confidence, because... 




Only the NEW & 
NCR model PC4i 
Provides- 

Unique 12-month Guarantee* 

Proven, 'self-teach* free tutorial 
programme* 'Help' aid on all 
functions Full operational 
compatability with industry-standard 
software* New Easy-use keyboard 

Powerful, expandable RAM with 
virtual memory One-piece 
VDU/disc drives High 
resolution screen (even on 
monochrome graphics)* 

Manufactured with 100 
years' tradition for quality. 

BACKED BY A NATION- 
WIDE, LONG-ESTABLISHED 
SERVICE NETWORK*, UNIQUE TO NCR 

•Features which answer user priorities, as surveyed 
. *by Hoby & Assoc 19B4. 

You can always grow with 



NCR 



NCR (NZ) Lid, 46 Wakefield St, Auckland, P.O. Box 5945, Weltesley Street 
Telephone 796-920. Telex N22621 



BUS B BYTES 



August, 1985 Vol. 3, No. 11 



FEATURES 



Hardware reviews 

Hard on the cursor of the Amstrad CPC464 comes the CPC664, the 
second wave in Amstrad 's assault on the home computer market. Peter 
Ensor has been comparing the newcomer with its pathfinding brother. He 
tells about the family relationship, 

Bondwell has maintained a low profile in the computer market until 
comparatively recently. Rodney Lincoln strips away some of the mystery 
as he tackles the keyboard of the new Bondwell Model 1 6, 

Peter Brown reckons the Hewlett Packard Integral PC looks more like a 
sewing machine than a computer at first glance. But once beyond the 
wrapping, he maintains it's a deceptive package. Peter unveils. 

A speech synthesiser card which will talk back to you if you're not 
careful what you're doing, That's the Speech Synth with which Alex & 
Fred Wong have been deep in conversation. They report, 

Business 

Pip Forer explains how graphics can be used lor serious business 
purposes. 

Integrated packages 

Cashllnk comes on a single disk and offers small businesses an 
accounting system in a single package. John Slane has been working 
through the system, His verdict, 

Software review 

A small Dunedin-based company has produced a software package for 
Apple users — and reviewer Gordon Findlay believes it's good value for 
money. He tells why. 

Program special 

We present a collection of the best programs readers have submitted, 
thoroughly vetted and tested by our specialist programs editor, Gary Parker. 




Amstrad CPC664 21 



COLUMNS 



Starting this month: a new Sanyo column 

Apple: John MacGibbon queries the definition of "progress" 

BBC: Pip Forer explores potentials of vision 

Commodore 64: Jeff Whiteside goes out learning with the Muppets 

Graeme Fleming has same BASIC Tips 

Machine language: Joe Colquitt indexes his addresses 

Sega: Dick Williams urges us to save regularly 

Spectravideo: Barbara Bridger plays to the sound of music 

Spectrum: Gary Parker exposes the protection business 

Tandy/System SO: Gordon Flndlay tackles a powerful DOS 

Toolbox: Gordon Findlay turns into a calculating type 



REGULARS 



Advertiser Index 
Book Club 
Books 



76 
72 
68 



Classified advts 
Micro moments 
Micro news 




Bondwell Model 16 18 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 





YEAR 
GUARANTEE 



g Maxell of Japan. 



The floppy disk that 

lets PC XT speed ahead, 

makes PC/XT 

X-traordinaiy, 

and helps IBM PC 



capitalise 
on its powers. 



/-A 



M uT 





For your Big Blue, only the Maxell standard of , 
excellence will do. The floppy disk chosen by many > 
disk drive manufacturers to test their new 
equipment. Each Maxell disk is backed by Q 
a 10 year guarantee. And each is a perfect C6g£ 
match for your IBM. In fact, there's a 
Maxell for virtually any computer made. ~— -— >*~y= 
Even if it's the new IBM PC AT! 




maxell 



A NEW STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE 
From your computer dealer or contact 

COMPUMEDIA SYSTEMS LTD 

Auckland: P.O. Box 3273, Tel. (09) 444-6085. TLx 60835 
Wellington: P.O. Box !1091 P Tel (04) 725-737. Tlx 3588 




PC AT PC 'XT. antj PC are srademarks Ql IBM Cefp 



hstxi 



MICRO N€WS 



Bits & Bytes changes 



The growth of Bits & Bytes 
magazine, and our expansion into 
computer exhibitions and videotex, 
has necessitated a shift to larger 
offices in Auckland. 

Our new Auckland street address 
is: 

Third Floor, Denby House 
156 Parnell Road 

Our new Auckland telephone 
numbers are: 796-775, 796-776. 

The box number, P.O. Box 9870, 
remains unchanged as does our 
Christcburch address. 

However all production and 
printing of the. magazine is now 
based in Auckland so only 
subscription, book club and program 



enquiries should be directed to our 
Christchurch office. 

Bits & Bytes wishes to stress that 
we have no connection whatsoever 
with any other computer publication 
that has ceased or begun publication 
recently, and that we remain New 
Zealand owned and produced. 

Next month is the third anniver- 
sary of Bits & Bytes and you will 
probably notice a few changes. We 
also hope to make it a bumper issue. 
Thanks also to all those people who 
have written in with their comments 
on improving the magazine. We 
always take note and welcome 
these. 



Videotex at last! 

As this issue of Bits & Bytes went to press negotiations were concluded 
for the establishment of a videotex service for computer users. 

All those people that responded to the Videotex advertisements in 
Bits & Bytes earlier this year will receive details of the service by mail this 
month. The September issue of Bits & Bytes will also include further details. 

New advertising manager 

Bits & Bytes has appointed a new advertising manager based in Auckland. 

He is Paul Harris, who has previously worked for Olivetti in Britain and 
Australia, and Canon Data Products in New Zealand. 

Paul has considerable experience in the publishing industry, having worked 
on publications in Canada and New Zealand. 



MICRO MOMENTS 



BY MATT KILLIP 



I HAD SETTER HAVE A LOOK 
AT THE ANNUAL SALES 




Bits & Bytes — the reader-friendly magazine 



BITS & BYTES is published monthly, 

except January, by Bits & Bytes, 
Ltd. 



Advertising and Editorial 

Top floor, Daytone House, 53 Davis Cres, P.O. 
Box 9870, Newmarket, Auckland, Telephone 
549 028, 549-677. 

Subscriptions, Production and 
Book Club 

First floor, Oxford Court, 222 Oxford Terrace, 
P.O. Box B27, Christchurch, Telephone 66-566. 



Management 



Managing Editor - Paul Crooks 
Editor - Gara Ellis 

Production Manager - Dion Crooks 



Advertising Representatives 

Auckland - Paul O'Donoghue, P.O. Box 9870, 

Telephone 549 028. 

Wellington - Marc Heymann. p.O Box 

27-205, Telephone 844-985, 

Christchurch — Jocelyn Howard, P.O. Box 

827 r Telephone 66-566, 



Editorial Representatives 

Wellington — Pat Churchill, 5 Lucknow Terrace, 

Khandallah. Telephone 797-193. 

Christchurch - Dion Crooks, Telephone 66-566 



Merchandise 

Book dub and software manager: Dion Crooks. 
Telephone 66-566, 



Subscription 



Subscription rater S 1 6 a year ( 1 1 issues) adults 

and $14 a year for school pupils, subscriptions 

being from the issue of Bks <$ Bytes after the 

subscription is received. 

Oversea s su bsc ri pti ons : 

Surface mail — s27 a year. 

Airmail Australia and South Pacific, $49 a 

year; North America and Asia, $76 a year; 

Europe, South America, the Middle East, £98 a 

year, 

Subscription addresses; When sending in 

subscriptions please include postal zones for the 

cities. If your label is incorrectly addressed please 

send it to us with the correction marked. 



Distribution 

Inquiries: Bookshops - Gordon and 

Gotch r Ltd. 

Computer stores - direct to the 

publishers. 

Disclaimers 

Opinions; The views of reviewers and other 
contributors are not necessarily shared by 
the publishers, 

Copyright: All articles and programs printed 
in this magazine are eopyrrght. They should 
not be sold or passed on to non-subscribers 
in any form: printed, or in tape or disk 
format. 

Liability: AEthough material used in Bits & 
Bytes is checked for accuracy, no liability 
can be assumed for any losses due to the 
use of any material in this magazine. 

Production 

Production Manager: Dion Crooks. 

Assistants: Roger Browning, Graeme 

Patterson. 

Cover and graphics: Sally Wifiiams, 

Typesetting: Focal Point. 

Printed: in Dunedin by Allied Press. 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



MICRO N€WS 

-.■.■.■.-.-.-.-.-.v. . .:-:----v.v^w.. W y.>x WW ^ 

Pizzaz with Jazz 



By Alex Wong 



Everyone has trumpeted it from 
the rooftops and shouted it in the 
streets. Jazz, the software package 
from Lotus Corporation that Apple is 
depending on to place the 512K 
Macintosh solidly in the business 
office environment, is finally playing 
in our town! 

Through a concert-ed effort, 
Imagineering and CED Distributors 
launched Jazz at the Regent Hotel 
over breakfast with speeches, 
videos, hands-on demonstrations 
and a modern jazz dance-set from 
the Limbs Dance company. 

Jazz is written by Lotus 
Development Corporation, "the 
minds who brought the simplicity of 
1 -2-3 and the power of Symphony to 
the world of business" (not to 
mention the IBM PC!) sells for $ 1 450 
and is distributed in New Zealand by 
Imagineering. 

It is a completely integrated full 
function business application 
package that requires a 51 2K 
Macintosh computer and external 
disk drive to run. An ImageWriter 
printer is recommended and it 
supports a hard disk drive, both as a 
data and a program disk. 

The Jazz word processor is similar 
to MacWrite — and at least as 
sophisticated, with many features 
including word-wrap, 150 columns, 
global search and replace, 
justification, several fonts, 

automatic headers, footers, page 
numbers, data and time. It Is also 
capable of several different formats 
in one document. 



The Jazz worksheet is Lotus' own, 
world-renowned spreadsheet, 8192 
rows by 256 columns. It has 94 
listed mathematical, text, financial, 
statistical, calendar and special 
functions including every command I 
ever knew — and I'd never heard of. 

It has 1 1 cell format options, 
variable column widths, grid or clear 
screen, complete string manipulation 
and the ability to move or copy a 
whole range at once. 

The database stores more than 
8000 records (all in RAM), in up to 
100 fields. It has three sort levels as 
well as a possible 100 search 
criteria, and includes seven 
statistical functions. It can generate 
two types of labels. 

The business graphics application 
takes data from the spreadsheet or 
the database to draw six major graph 
types, with horizontal or vertical 
orientation and free-form text 
annotation. It can scale each axis 
independently and gives 24 fill 
patterns, as well as various line 
types and grid lines, 

Jazz communications software 
can set all standard protocol 
commands as well as preform 
terminal emulation. It transmits data 
over phone lines using most modems 
and also transfers 1-2-3, Symphony 
and SYLK files for use with Jazz. 

All these applications are 
integrated so that many files — and 
file types may be on the desktop at 
once r and by a special, exclusive 
function called HotView. With 
HotView, data can be copied from 



srcani offcr 

HIGH QUALITY DYSAN DISKS 

"Lifetime Guarantee" 

Ideal for Apple 11, Commodore, Spectravideo, Colour Genie, TRS 80, 
Systems 80, Osbourne I, Franklin Ace f etc. 

m? S.S./S.D. $47*50 per 10 disks 

Please send me Dysan disks® $47.50 

per 10 disks. Enclosed is a cheque for $ , 

(add $2,50 post and packing.) SFND TO- 

Name .,.,,......„. , Dysan Special Offer 

P.O. Box 1663 

'■ '" 27 Merrin St. 

- Christchurch. 

8 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



Address 



one to another yet a link retained so 
that when information is updated on 
one, it is also updated on the other 
document! Jazz should do extremely 
well, for Lotus, for Apple's 
Macintosh, and for business people. 

With the introduction of the 51 2K 
Macintosh and the new System and 
Finder, version 4.1, and the current 
abundance of software, most of the 
Mac's old problems have dis- 
appeared. 

The new Finder runs more quickly 
and efficiently, especially when 
moving files (which may be 
displayed as words which can be 
dragged around) as it no longer asks 
for apparently unnecessary disk 
swaps. 

Other features have been 
improved or added, including one- 
step disk ejection and an elegant 
system restart. Not to mention the 
Switcher system software that lets 
different applications reside in 
memory to provide lightning speed 
program switching. 

Loads of peripherals designed 
especially for the Mac are now 
emerging, and utility programs {like 
Copy II Mac) which let users inside 
the Mac and the mouse and icon 
combination have proved so 
successful almost every machine has 
some sort of emulation. 

While there is still no colour, it has 
the highest resolution of any 
machine in widespread use today — 
and the software to drive it. 

(A full review of Jazz will appear in 
the September issue). 



Rene out front 



The Freepool courseware 

exchange for Poly courseware 
recently topped one megabyte (1 
million) words in size. This is spread 
over about 150 titles. 

To mark the occasion, Polycorp 
New Zealand Ltd's general manager, 
Dick Greenbank, made an award to 
the author contributing most 
programs. Rene Sjardin, of Tauranga 
Boys' College, was sent a box of Sin 
floppy disks. 

The Freepool, operated for 
Polycorp by Wellington Teachers 1 
College, covers programs in many 
categories from maths to games, 
English to geography. 




HERE'S HOW YOU CAN WIN. 

Send your original software program to Dick Smith 
Electronics "Program of the Week'' contest and you 
could win the weekly $100 cash prize. From the 
85/86 "Programs of the Week" a program will he 
selected to win the $2000 cash prize with $3000 
worth of DSE computer equipment. Programs can be 
for any personal computer and may he educational, 
game, business or any other category, Please submit 
your program on a tape or disk with your entry and 
tape/ disk clearly showing your name and address. 
(Programs submitted as a printed listing cannot be 
accepted). 



" Radio New Zealand Computer Club 

In association with Dick Smith Electronics 

I certuy that the computer program I am entering m this contest is an original written hy me/ 
us and is not subject to &ny copyright J understand upon entry the program becomes the pro- 
perty of Dick Smith Electronics 



NAME 



SIGNATURE- 



DATE. 




"TlUe' of software program . 



Software program runs on a ...... . 

Computer t State make and model'? 



flZ'S LOWEST PRICE COLOUR COMPUTER I 

What a bargain! Compare the features. , . Compare the performance. 
You'll agree the new Aquarius computer system from Dick Smith 
Electronics Is far and away your best choice: for the beginner, the 
student, the computer enthusiast. . . and you' 

Using the world famous Z-80A microprocessor and 14,000 byte inbuilt ] 
memory { readily expandable)' the Aquarius Personal Computer is 
ready to run a huge range of programs - covering games, education. 
and much much more! Check out the Aquarius Computer at your 
nearest Dick Smith Electronics store. You wont be disap pointed] 
PERFORMANCE: 

• Z80A Microprocessor 

• 49 Moving' Key Keyboard 
■ 16 Colours 

• 1 OK ROM 

• 4KRAM (expandable to 34K) 

• Built-in Microsoft BASIC 
•320 X 192 Graphics 

• 40 Columns x 24 Lines Display 



LOW 

PRICE 

HIGH 
iQUALIiy 

NZ*S BEST VALUE 




mi'H»mrfUi3t3tfi 



THE IDEAL FAMILY COHFUTEE 



OMIT 



$179 



Now you can afford a crisp, high definition text and graphics display 
monitor for your computer! This top name brand monitor offers 
quality and performance at an unbeatable price. . . 

• 75* square inch viewing screen EANTASHC VALUE 

■ Attractively styled high Impact 
plastic case 

• Convenient LED power indicator 

• Recessed carry handle 

• 80 character x 25 line text display 

• Hi-res green phosphor tube 
CatX-lS19 



fUMXHOUU VJUAJli 

$289 



DiCiC^SMfffi 

ELECTRONICS 



• AUCKLAND 

DOWNTOWN Cnr Fori & Commerce Sts. Ph: 38 9974 

NEWMARKET 98 Carlton Gore Road. Ph: 54 7744 

PAPATOETOE 26 East Tamaki Road. Ph: 278 2355 

AVON DALE 1795 Great North Rd. Ph. 88 6696 

• HAMILTON 450 Angtesea Street. Ph: 39 4490 

• WELLINGTON 154 Featherstone Stfeet. Ph: 73 9858 

• LOWER HUTT 440 Cuba St. Alicetown. Ph: 66 2022 

• CHRISTCHURCH Cnr Victoria St & Boaley Ave. Ph: 50 405 

• DUNEDIN Cnr Manse & Stafford Sts. Ph: 74 1096 

• DSXpress Dick Smith Electronics 
Mailorders Private Bag, Newmarket. (09) 54 9924 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



MICRO N€WS 



.:.:-:tx.::-:-:-:-;::-:-:-:-:-:::»:-:::- ■"■•■:■:■ ■:■:•:■:■■- :■:■:■:■: •' :■;■:■:. ,-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:o:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:---:-:-:-:.:->:.:.:.>:---:.:.:.:.' 



No. 2 selling PC on the way? 



Given the incredible number of 
computer brands available in New 
Zealand it is ironic to astute industry 
observers (such as editors of Bits & 
Bytes) that probably the world's 
second largest selling office personal 
computer has never reached our 
shores. 

More than 200,000 of these 



computers have been sold 
worldwide; it ranks second behind 
the IBM PC in USA and third tn Britain 
behind the IBM and Apricot. 

Yet the company that 

manufactures these computers has 
been in business only two and a half 
years, and last year sold $US329 
million worth of its computers. 



B§> ATI SOFTWARE 




The following popular but end of line or ex-evaluation 
ATI computer based training modules are cluttering 
up our stock room and records. So out they go at 
huge savings to you. Most items in quantities of ones 
and twos only so first in, first served. 

TOTAL 
computer 

LIMITED 



WERE $120 
&P > CLEARING AT $85 



D APPLE Me DOS: Applesoft BASIC. 

Multiplan, Visicalc 
LI DEC RAINBOW (CP^M): Teach 

Yourself CP/M, dBASE II, MBASIC 
L_ IBM CP/M: Teach Yourself CP/M 
r KAYPRO CP/M: Teach Yourself 

CP/M 
n MORROW MD2 CP/M: Teach 

Yourself CP/M, MBASIC 
" MORROW MD3 CP/M: Teach 

Yourself CP/M, MBASIC 

NEC APC CP/M86: Teach Yourself 

CP/M 

TELEV1DEO PORTABLE CP/M: 

Teach Yourself CP/M 
a APPLE II CP/M: dBASE II, Wordstar 




□ 



a 



a 



ALTOS XENIX: 

MULTIPLAN 

IBM PC COMPATIBLES PC/MSDOS: 

dBASE II, MSWORD, SUPERCALC, 

TK! SOLVER 

NEC APC CP/M 86: dBASE II, 

MICROPLAN, WORDSTAR 

TELEVIDEO PORTABLE CP/M: 

dBASE II, WORDSTAR 

DEC RAINBOW CP/M: MULTIPLAN 
I WANG PC MSDOS: Multiplan 

KAYPRO CP/M: Perfect Calc. Perfect 

Writer, Wordstar 

MORROW MD2 CP/M: Wordstar 

MORROW MD3 CP/M: Wordstar 

Sanyo 555 CP/M: Wordstar 
□ Sanyo 1000 CP/M: Wordstar 
D CP/M 86 8°: Wordstar 



C 



□ 
□ 

! ' 



PLEASE SEND ME ATI TRAINING PROGRAMS AS INDICATED 
Please debit my AMEX □ Bankcard C VISA D 

TTTTTTl 



VISA 



Card No. 



'Ill' 



Authorised signature 



Expiry date . , 

Name 

Postal Address 

Phone { . , ) ..... 

NOTES: 1. Payment must accompany order, 2. Price includes poslage. Add $6 in total for courier delivery. 



10 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



We are talking about the Compaq 
computer, made by the Compaq 
Computer Corporation which had the 
sense to jump on the IBM PC 
compatible bandwagon very early in 
the piece. In late April, Compaq 
released a range of IBM PC/AT 
clones - again one of the first 
companies to do so. 

But while other far less successful 
brands have proliferated here, 
Compaq computers have never been 
available on computer store shelves 
although a few have been imported 
by companies and individuals. 

However, Bits & Bytes 
understands that siutation may be 
about to change with one of the 
country's largest computer 

organisations seriously considering 
importing and distributing the 
Compaq range. 

Home computer wars? 

The New Zealand home computer 
marketplace has taken an interesting 
turn with the news that Jedi 
Corporation has purchased half the 
shares of Grandstand Leisure, the 
New Zealand distributor of Amstrad 
and Sega computers. 

Now one of the subsidiaries of the 
Jedi Corporation is Fountain 
Marketing which distributes 

Commodore computers here, along 
with Comfrrodore Computers (NZ) 
Ltd. 

Commodore Computers (NZ) Ltd, 
which was recently listed on the 
stock exchange, has been saying for 
some time that from the end of this 
year, it will be the only distributor of 
Commodore computers in this 
country. 

Fountain Marketing has been 
denying that. But perhaps this latest 
move indicates it is at least hedging 
its bets. 



Managing-director 

Chris Wilkinson was recently 
appointed managing-director of ICL 
Australia Pty Ltd, Wilkinson, 42 r was 
formerly vice-president, marketing, 
for the Asia Pacific region. 

Before that, he was ICL's general 
manager, southeast Asia, based in 
Singapore, and has also worked in 
Saudi Arabia. He has been with ICL 
more than 18 years. 

Incidentally, he first visited 
Australia in 1 962 as a member of the 
British Commonwealth Games swim- 
ming team. 







The confusion is over. 

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BITS & BYTES - August 19B5 - 11 



MICRO N€UUS 



, T . 'sjyjy, ■ L^^A '4 '.\™y ipKrvwWWCW 



1 .' .V.W.V r' A^MWMW 



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New Lotus 1,2,3, and Symphony 



New versions of Lotus 1, 2, 3 and 
Symphony software are due for 
release, the Lotus Corporation 
International business development 
manager, Stephen Kahn revealed 
while in New Zealand for the Jazz 
launch. 

The new Symphony will be 
released this month, with Lotus 1 , 2 f 
3 to follow in November. 

The upgrades will allow the 
software to address up to an extra 
four megabytes of memory (Lotus 
research has shown 15% of users 
are running out of memory) and to 
support an 8087 processor that will 
allow the spreadsheets on both 
packages to run up to five times 
faster. 

Users will require hardware 
modifications to take advantage of 
these new features. The four 
megabytes of extra memory will be 
available on a plug-in board soon to 
be released by Intel. 

In addition, the revised version of 
Lotus 1,2,3 will be able to read 
Symphony files while the new 
Symphony version will have revised 
documentation and a tutorial that 



will allow the typical user to be up 
and running in 1 7 minutes, according 
to Mr Kahn. 

Meanwhile, Lotus 1, 2, 3 has now 
been at the top of the Softcell best 
selling software list for two years, 
while Jazz entered the list at number 
three in May and Symphony was at 
number five. 



Lotus v Osborne 

Lotus Corporation is not worried 
by potential competition from Adam 
Osborne, according to its 
international business development 
manager, Stephen Kahn. 

In fact, he seemed to find 
Osborne's promise to sell a fully 
compatible Lotus 1,2 f 3 package for 
$US99 (Lotus 1,2,3 sells in USA for 
about $450) as very ho-hum - but 
no doubt they have heard it alf 
before. 

Nonetheless, at least one New 
Zealand company is known to be 
negotiating with Osborne to release 
his software range here. 



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• Consists ol hardware and software 

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ONLY SI ^1095 (^ase allow 

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IF YO U HAVE A MICRODRIVE, . . 
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a monukou 

^ COMPUTERS 

PHONE: AK 656-002 

P.O. BOX 26-074. Auckland 3 



Sperry PC plant 

Sperry Systems Corporation (P.O. 
Box 3960, Wellington) has 
announced that its Brisbane factory 
to produce Sperry PCs for the 
Australian and New Zealand markets 
is expected to be operational early 
next year. 

Meanwhile, in USA, Sperry and 
Burroughs Corporation are having a 
war of words about their failed 
merger negotiations. 

Each is blaming the other for the 
failure of the negotiations which, if 
successful, would have seen the 
creation of the world's second 
largest computer company with an 
annual $US10.5 billion revenue 
{which incidentally would still have 
left it well behind IBM which last 
year turned over $US45.9 billion). 

Amiga magazine 

Believe it or not, but the first issue 
of a new magazine called 
AmigaWorid, based on the yet-to-be- 
produced Commodore Amiga 
computer, is scheduled for 
publication in USA in August, 

Mind you, the first issue of a 
magazine (since defunct) based on 
the IBM PC Junior appeared months 
before the computer. 

But given that rumours about the 
Amiga, Commodore's answer to the 
Apple Macintosh, have been around 
for over a year, the decision to 
publish a magazine seems optimistic 
— unless someone knows something 
we don't. 

Suffering in US 

Many US computer companies, 
from IBM down, have warned 
shareholders that 1 985 earnings will 
be less than 1984 profits. 

Share prices have fallen as a result 
and some companies have had to 
take more drastic action. Among the 
latter is Apple Computer which 
recently laid off 1 200 employees and 
closed two of its manufacturing 
plants. Sales of the Macintosh 
computer are still reported to be 
slow. 

Chip manufacturers — National 
Semiconductor, Motorola, Mostek 
and Texas Instruments — have also 
laid off workers, 

IBM blamed its lower earnings on 
"the fact that too much of (US) 
demand is being met by imports". It 
expects any growth this year will be 
in operation outside U.S.A. 



12 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



Which man has 
just paid $2300 more 

than he needed to? 




Dick Spender (standing on your 
left) has just bought the IBM* PC for 
$7,995. 

Whereas Sandy MacKenzie (the 
gent on your right) has bought the new 
Commodore PC10 for just $5,695. 

Mr MacKenzie, a man known 
for not mincing his words , said "Yer 
Commodore PC does everythuV ya IBM * 
docs." 

He went on to say "Did ya not 
know they both use yer same operatin' 
system (MS/DOS), So they both run 
exactly the same software" (Lotus 1-2-3, 
Wordstar, Symphony, d Base III — in 
fact all the popular software). 

"And did ya not know both can 
be networked, and interfaced with yer 
IBM* mainframes/ 

"So let's get one thing perfectly 
straight, sonny. $2,300 is $2,300." 

If you agree with Sand/s think- 
ing, return this coupon for full details on 
the new Commodore Business PC, and 
the name of the Commodore Dealer 
nearest you. 

The new Commodore PC 10. 
When $2,300 is $2,300. 

| ~--^*Dl 

J Sandy has a point! $2,300 is $2,300 



I Company 
I Df Firm 



Address _ 



. PH. 



have lhe tallowing PC applications m mina 



POST TO; Commodore Computer (NZ) Lid, 
P.O Box 33-847, Takapuna. Auckland. 



LEwrwhcrc m ju ix> therrt a Commodore, i 



Retail prm^s quolea above are correct wnen gang lo press 'IBM rs ine regsiefed trademark ot IntematcfiaJ Bu&ness Marjhmes CDrparaiion TU 3ympnony t-2 3 and Lalus afe trademarks q\ ins LdIus Development Corporation 

•"dBase III and framework ais trademarks at Asnion Tale * Wardstar s a cwoauct Iran M^ro Pro p 



BITS& BYTES - August 1 985 - 13 



MICRO N€WS 



;.;.;«A\w^x^:-v-y.--:-:-x-:-: 



v^^viv^X'tf-K-X-tt^X^^ 



More Apricots 

Just when you thought computer 
model names had become as silly as 
possible, Barson Computers (P.O. 
Box 36-045, Auckland) has 
announced the Apricot XMOS, Xi20 
and XI2QS, three enhanced versions 
of the Apricot XL 

The XMOS includes 10 Megabyte 
3. Bin Winchester and 720K double- 
sided floppy disk drives, and new 
electronics offering 51 2K of on- 
board RAM as standard. 

The more powerful models, the 
Xi20 and XI20S, include 20 
Megabyte 3. Bin Winchester and 
720K double-sided floppy disk 
drives, and the same electronics as 



the XMOS. The Xi20 includes B12K 
of on-board RAM whereas the most 
powerful model, the Xi20S, includes 
1 Megabyte. 

Each computer has two spare 
expansion slots, allowing them to be 
connected to a local area network or 
house an on-board modem. 

The new models offer the same 
features as the original Apricot Xi, 
including a 16-bit Intel 8086 
processor and MS-DOS, 

Prices for the new models 
(including tax) are: XMOS, $13,860; 
XI20, $15,695; Xi20S $17,585. All 
are available now. 



The NZ Microcomputer Club (Inc.) 
proudly presents ... 



MICRC) 

show '85 



The 6th NZ Microcomputer exhibition 



NEW PRODUCTS* 



COMPUTER CLUBS AND 



USERS GROUPS DISPLAYS 






HENDERSON CIVIC CENTRE 



RATANUI STREET 



Ca* 1fl AllGf 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

ad I. IV ffllg tickets $2 - family group $5 



RO. BOX 6210, AUCKLAND 1 



.•:■.•-'.- - '.■:',.;«w.,.;.|.^>;.;^.v.v/.'.^v.-.'.-.v.v.-.--.-— .-.■.-.v.v.-.-.-.v - - - 

Sinclair out 

Sinclair Research, headed by Sir 
Give Sinclair, has reportedly been 
taken over by publisher Robert 
Maxwell "for a nominal sum" in 
further evidence that British home 
computer companies are having a 
lean time. 

Hollis Ltd, a subsidiary of 
Maxwell's Pergamon Press group, 
has agreed to take a controlling share 
in Sinclair Research, manufacturer of 
the Spectrum and QL computers. 

Sinclair Research would raise 
£12 million ($NZ26 million) by 
issuing new shares, most of which 
would be taken up by Hollis under 
the deal. Sir Give Sinclair said 
recently he was trying to raise up to 
£15 million to fund growth and 
restructuring plans. 

Several months ago, Sinclair asked 
his sub-contractors to stop supplying 
components while a backlog of 
computers in stock after a poor 
Christmas selling season was 
cleared. 

That same poor Christmas was 
one of the reasons given for the 
Acorn group, manufacturer of the 
BBC and Electron computers, having 
to be rescued by the Italian 
company, Olivetti, earlier this year. 

And what's going to happen to 
Sinclair himself? Apparently, he has 
been named life president of Sinclair 
Research and will act as research 
consultant, but will no longer be on 
the company's board of directors. 

Electron networking 

A new interface developed in 
Australia by Barson Computers (P.O. 
Box 36-045, Auckland) allows the 
Acorn Electron microcomputer to 
connect to the Acorn Econet 
network, 

The interface enables the Electron 
to operate in a network in exactly the 
same way as a B8C microcomputer, 
although the Electron is slightly 
slower because it is run by a 1 Mhz 
processor compared with the BBC's 
2Mhz chip. 

The "Plus 1e" interface plugs into 
one of the cartridge ROM sockets on 
the Plus 1 expansion unit for the 
Electron and costs about $400. 

Built into the Plus 1 unit are a 
parallel printer port, two cartridge 
ROM sockets and an analog/joystick 
port. 

Barson has also developed an 
Eprom cartridge which allows the 
Electron to run ROM-based software 
such as LOGO, Pascal, word 
processors and spreadsheets. The 
cartridge costs about $75. 



14 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



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HP INTEGRAL PC 



tt>tt4c™x.xo::-:-x-.-vA^.v.v/wv.v.v^^ 



A deceptive package 



By Peter Brown 

At first glance, Hewlett-Packard's 
Integral PC looks more like a sewing 
machine than an extremely powerful 
UNIX-based personal computer. 
Appearances, however, are very 
deceptive. 

The basic unit comes in one 
1 1 .5kg package which can be easily 
carried from place to place — from 
office to home; factory or laboratory 
to office; or from town to town — as 
part of your personal luggage. 

Once you've arrived at your 
destination, assembling the machine 
is easy. Unclip the top and fold it 
back, then just fold down the 
keyboard and plug it into the front of 
the machine. Thank goodness — I 
can never understand why some 
manufacturers insist on plugging 
everything in at the back). There is 
also an input for the optional mouse 
at the front. 

Disk drive, screen, and printer are 
build in, so all that remains is to plug 
in the PC, place a disk in the drive, 
switch the machine on, and you're 
ready to go to work. 

The built-in disk drive is a 3. Bin 
double-sided, double-density, 

microfloppy drive that gives 710 
Kbytes of storage. 

Floppy bias 

I'm biased towards these 
microfloppy drives because they are 
almost foolproof to use, and the 
diskettes are well protected against 
damage and careless handling. 
Because of their design, the 
microfloppy diskettes have the 
potential to be a very high-capacity 
mass-storage * medium less 

vulnerable to mishap than others in 
use. 

The screen is a 9in amber 
electroluminescent (EL) display built 
into the front of the machine, The 
angle can be altered for more 
comfortable viewing by touching a 
switch. 

Depending on the font chosen 
{there is quite a range available) and 
the window size, the screen can 
display around 24 lines each of 80 
characters. On the 9in screen/the 
255 x 51 2 pixel display gives a fairly 
high resolution — very necessary 
considering the amount Hewlett- 
Packard has crammed into the 
display area. 

16 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 




The HP Integral PC 



Despite its small size, the screen is 
reasonably easy to read; even from 
3ft or 4ft providing natural lighting is 
used, and the angle of the display 
adjusted to avoid reflections. Under 
any other conditions, however, a 
certain level of concentration is 
needed to pick out letters and words 
especially when you've been 
working at the machine for a while. 
Even high-contrast, flicker-free 
amber screens are fatiguing if they 
are too small. 

And 9in is a bit small for an 
80-character by 24-line display. 

The built-in dot-matrix printer uses 
an ink-jet printing method which 
makes it quite fast [150 characters 
per second) and relatively quiet. It's 
also versatile and has a good range 
of print modes and character sets. 



Tutor disk 



A tutor disk is included and 
provides a useful introduction to 
correct use of the machine, including 
using the printer, disk operations, 
using the "windows" HP provides to 
help manage the system, a helpful 
guide to the operating system and 
PAM (Hewlett-Packard's Personal 
Applications Manager — the user 
interface to the UNIX operating 
system), and so on. 

Also included among the software 
provided (on microfloppy diskette) 
with the system are a utilities disk, 
diagnostics disk, HP-UX commands, 
and a system disk (w f hich contains a 
variety of useful functions including 
the HP graphics language (HPGL). 



HflRDWflRC R€VI€W 




Microcomputer summary 



There is also a standard applications 
disk which holds a couple of editors, 
together with some games (including 
"Adventure"). 

Built into ROM is HP-UX/RO - 
Hewlett-Packard's version of UNIX 
which gives the integral PC so much 
of its power. There is also PAM, 
which acts as a buffer between the 
user and HP-UX, saving the user a lot 
of the heartache often associated 
with UNIX. The HP window-manager 
is in ROM as well. 

The HP Integral PC can be used as 
either a standalone microcomputer 
or as an intelligent terminal to a 
larger system. Designed primarily as 
a scientific or engineering machine, it 
is built around a Motorola 68000 
16/32-bit microprocessor with a 
clock rate of 8MHz. 



Name 

Manufacturer: 
Processor: 
Clock speed: 
RAM: 

ROM: 
Input/output 



Operating system: 
Storage: 

Languages: 
Graphics: 
Cost: 
Options: 

Reviewer's ratings 

(5 the highest j: 



Hewlett-Packard Integral Personal Computer 

Hewlett-Packard 

Motorola 68000 16/32-bit microprocessor 

8MHz 

512KBytes expandable to 1.5MBytes (up to 5.5MBytes 

with bus expanders) 

256KBytes 

Keyboard (detachable, 90-key, typewriter style); built-in 

ink-jet dot-matrix printer; Hewlett-Packard interface bus 

(IEEE-488); two Hewlett-Packard Interfa human interface 

loops; 9in built-in amber EL display (24 lines x 80 

characters) 

A version of UNIX Interfacing with the user through PAM 

Built-in double-density, double-sided, 3. Bin microfloppy disk 

drive 

BASIC, C 

16-bit graphics processor with 32KBvtes of dedicated RAM 

$14,827 {recommended retail) 

Numerous — printers, plotters interfaces, extra microfloppy 

drives and hard disks, memory expansion, communications 

Documentation 4; ease of use 4; languages 3; expansion 4; 
support 4; value for money 3 



Multi-tasking 



A multi-tasking facility allows you 
to have several jobs under way at 
once. For instance, you could be 
using the computer in 

instrumentation control and, at the 
same time, be compiling a report or 
analysing a spreadsheet. The 
windowing system HP has built into 
ROM makes this easy and simple to 
handle. 

Hewlett-Packard offers BASIC and 
C as languages, with others on the 
way. The BASIC is an extended 
version of ANSI BASIC with 
additional maths, graphics, and 
instrumentation input/output 

facilities. 

Once you have the basic system, 
you can add on an enormous array of 
peripherals, as well as significantly 
upgrading internal memory (RAM). A 
range of hard disks is offered, with or 
without tape backup. I would like to 
see tape backups made compulsory 
for hard disk users but HP is to be 
congratulated for offering it as an 
option — I hope other manufacturers 
follow. 

Excellent manuals provide a clearly 
written and thorough guide to 
setting up and using the machine. 
Sometimes depth may be sacrificed 
for simplicity but more detailed 



information is available for the 
curious. My only complaint is that I 
couldn't find any explanation of 
what some of the games were about! 

Although designed for technical 
use, the Hewlett-Packard Integral PC 
could easily fit into an office 
environment and several general 
business packages are available. At 
$14,827 for the basic unit however, 
it costs a little more than the average 
business machine. It will be up to 
business people to decide whether 
the extra power and facilities of 
Integral PC merit the additional cost. 

I enjoyed working with this 
machine and was a little 
disappointed when Hewlett-Packard 
reclaimed it at the end of the review 
period. The screen is too small to use 
for hours on end, and I always 
wonder whether such high prices 
can be justified. However, it was 
easy to use, very powerful and can 
be packed up and put away in a 
space no bigger than that occupied 
by the average sewing machine. 



Pass Bits & Bytes 
to a friend 



BITS & BYTES - August 1986-17 



HflRDWnirc R€VI€UJ 

BONDWELL MODEL 



■:-:'>}-;'Xv:;v:-;v:;-:v>;-;v;v 



A business attraction 



By Rodney Lincoln 



A review of a computer like the 
Bondwelf 16 has to be handled with 
some care, especially when the 
computer is such a recent release the 
manufacturer has not fully 
completed the documentation. Of all 
the manufacturers represented in 
New Zealand, the Bondwell 
Company has been one of the least 
well known until recently. 

The Bondwell Company was 
formed in 1975 and at that time, 
manufactured electronic watches. 
Its growth has been dramatic since. 
In 1 982, Bondwell formed a joint 
venture with the New York-based 
Spectravideo Inc. in response to the 
large demand for video games and 
computers, and later acquired 
Spectravideo. 

In October 1 984, Bondwell 
introduced its Model 12 and model 
14 computers - both Z80A, CP/M- 
based portables with a 9in screen, 
and two disk drives - to New 
Zealand. Earlier this year, the model 
2 - a lap computer with a single disk 
drive and LCD screen - was 
released. 

More recently, Bondwell released 
the Model 16 (based on a similar 
concept to the Model 14) with 1 28K 
of onboard RAM and two disk drives. 
The major difference is that the 
second drive is a formatted 10 
megabytes Winchester hard disk on 
the Bondwell 16. 

The floppy disk on the Bondwell 
16 is a standard 5.25in double- 
sided, double-density with 360K 
formatted capacity. The operating 
system is the later version of the 
popular CP/M 2.2. Called CP/M plus 
or CP/M 3.0, h is a friendlier version 
of CP/M which takes full advantage 
of the Model 1 6's 128K RAM. The 
CP/M operating system and its utility 
programs are distributed on the hard 
disk. 



Four portions 



Because of its tremendous 
capacity, the hard disk is subdivided 
into four portions - "logical disk 
drives" which are partitioned this 
way. 

Logical Drive Capacity 

A 204SK 

B 2048K 

C 2048K 

D 3584K 







The Bondwell Model 16 

The design of the hard disk 
requires software to make use of the 
product. Some of these programs 
are: 

• COPYALL - which enables you to 
copy all the files from a logical disk to 
a floppy disk, or vice versa. 

• HDINIT - which reformats the hard 
disk if a small portion gets damaged. 

• BYE - which moves the read/write 
head of the hard disk to the Inner 
tracks of the disk where no data is 
stored. Normally run before turning 
the power off. 

• HDDIAG - which Is a diagnostic 
program. 

The Model 1 6 is a very competitive 
package, partly because of its 
impressive hardware and also 
because of the software which 
comes with it. This software 
includes: 

• WordStar - a flexible and powerful 
word processor program. 

• MailMerge - a WordStar option 
which helps produce customised 
form letters for multiple mailings. 

• DataStar - a data handling 
program to help store and retrieve 
information quickly. Helps you 
design forms for your data. 

• ReportStar - uses data files 
maintained in DataStar to produce 
clear professional reports, 

• CalcStar - an electronic 
spreadsheet which can act as a 

Number of Fiies Contents 

704 System programs 

704 Own use 

704 Own use 

1024 Own use 



variable sized scratchpad, and help in 
planning, analysis and forecasting. 

* Setup - a utility program included 
in the CP/M package that helps 
program the function keys. Also 
used to configure the RS232 ports 
and reformat disk drives to access 
information on disks from other 
computers. 

* Speech - the Bondwell 16 talks, 
through the program, with two 
modes of speech. In English, the 
speech is extremely mechanical but 
still intelligible; in Phoneme, you can 
customise the speech which is a 
great improvement. 

* Accounts - a software package 
produced by SL Microsystems, of 
Rotorua, containing five programs 
handy for business: stock control, 
debtors' control, debtors' reports, 
invoice entry, and payments/journal 
entries. 

Note: Orchid Trading, the New 
Zealand agent for Bondwell, 
informed me that further software is 
being made available soon to handle 
GST, 

There is also a vast range of 
software obtainable on floppy disk, 
including games, BASIC, Fortran, 
Forth, COBOL, Pascal and others. 

Amber monitor 

The Bondwell 16 has a built-in 
amber monitor which I found easy on 
the eye even after extended use. The 
monitor is 9in CRT with a non-glare 
face clearly legible from 3-4ft - no 



18 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



~*£. 




COMPUTER SYSTEMS 

Helping people and Business solve Problems 

• SINGLE/MULTI-USER MICROCOMPUTERS 

• MICRO AND MINI COMPUTERS 

• PORTABLE DATA ENTRY COMPUTERS 

• BUSINESS SOFTWARE PACKAGES 

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• SPREAD SHEETS 

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• PRINTERS 

See all these at the Mitsui stand upstairs 

ENQUIRIES WELCOME 
SERVICE and HELP GUARANTEED 

MITSUI 

COMPUTER SYSTEMS LTD 



AUCKLAND OFFICE: 



HEAD OFFICE: 



75 Rosebank Road, P.O. Box 1 9-257, 
Avondale, Auckland. Telephone 882-049. 

15-19 Wigan Street, P.O. Box 9447, 

Wellington. Telephone 848-069. FAX (04) 845-714. 



EDi 



hardware Review 



JXW^mWAWMt^w^'.ww/Mm'.v^AV/.v; 



peering is required. 

Brightness and contrast controls 
are built in and provide enough 
adjustment for all lighting conditions, 
However, the Model 16 is 
disappointing in the graphics 
department as the monitor is only 
medium resolution and only "chunky 
graphics" are supported. The screen 
has 80 characters or columns and 25 
lines. 

Bondwell packages the Mode! 16 
adequately in a 55cm x 65cm x 
35cm box. The computer itself is a 
far smaller package which looks like 
a small instrument case, 45cm x 
39cm x 20cm. It weighs in around 
14kg, with a nondescript, grey, 
plastic casing giving the impression 
of being able to take most of the 
knocks which come the way of 
portable or luggable computers. 

On unlatching the rather flimsy 
plastic catches, the front cover, 
which is also the keyboard, detaches 
to reveal the business end. The 
keyboard is attached to the 
computer by a self-coiling, 
detachable cord which allows 
movement over a 30cm radius. 

The keyboard is super. It has just 
the right feel to its full travel keys 
and is not cluttered. The keys are 



Microcomputer summary 



Name; 


Bondwell Model 16 


Manufacturer: 


Bondwell Ltd. 


Processor: 


Z80A 


Clock Speed; 


4Mhz 


RAM: 


128kB (2kB video RAM) 


ROM: 


4kB 


Input/output: 


Parallel Centronics; RS232C; modern ports: external 




video port; speech synthesiser. 


Keyboard: 


16 function keys; 63 QWERTY keys; numeric keypad. 


Display: 


SO by 25, 9in amber monitor. 


Graphics: 


Chunky graphics only; medium res. 


Language: 


CP/M 3.0 system; BASIC, COBOL, Forth etc 




supported. 


Cost: 


$5995 (includes 10Mb hard disk, floppy disk and 

modem). 

Documentation 3 f ease of use 5, language 4, value 5, 


Reviewer's ratings (5 the 


highest): 


support 5. 



(Review unit supplied by Orchid Trading, Auckland}. 



arranged in a standard QWERTY 
layout. The extra keys are: LINE 
FEED, DEL, ESC, HTAB and ALPHA 
LOCK, The ALPHA LOCK key (shift 
lock) indicates its condition with a 
miniature LED which is imbedded in 
the key - very useful for non-typists. 
On the right side of the keyboard is 
the numeric keypad with four in-line 
cursor control keys positioned at the 
top. Above the keyboard are 16 



sculptured, programmable function 
keys. Bondwell suggests their 
functions should be labelled in the 
indented plastic slot immediately 
above. However, a much nicer 
option would have been some type 
of on-screen software label 

In all, the Bondwell 16 has 63, 
standard typewriter keys plus 16 
user-definable function keys. It also 
Turn to page 70 



BREAKING 

BARRIERS 



IPOLY 2 



LEARNING SYSTEM 




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BREAKING THE LEARNING BARRIERS— Across all levels of Education and Training 

BREAKING THE TECHNOLOGY BARRIERS- Being able to create your own courseware 

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BREAKING THE COST BARRIERS— The combination of technical superiority and cost 

efficiency, delivering maximum return to its Users 

Manufactured in New Zealand and guaranteed by POLYCORP New Zealand Limited, a division of PROGENI. 






For further information Write or Call:- Katharine Moody Alan Depree John Gale 

PO Box 30243 PO Box 5420 PO Box 13027 

Lower Hutt Auckland Chnstchurch 

Ph 666014 Ph. 796977 Ph. 795453 



20 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



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AMSTRAD CPC664 

Second time round 



By Peter Ensor 

In a continuing effort to attain its 
goal of 25% of the British market, 
the Amstrad company has released a 
second computer based on the 
popular CPC464. 

The CPC664 was released in New 
Zealand by Grandstand Computers 
Ltd at the end of June. This new 
model - an upgrade of the CPC464 - 
retails for $1500, or $2500, printer 
included. 

The main difference between the 
two machines is noticeable as soon 
as it is taken out of the packing, The 
tape drive which occupied the 
righthand side of the keyboard unit 
has been replaced with a 3in disk 
drive. 

In addition, the red-green-blue 
coloured keys have been replaced by 
blue keys, and the cursor keys are 
more prominent. 

Apart from this, the machine is 
much the same as described in the 
April issue of Bits & Bytes. 




The Amstrad CPC664 




It is a MUST to buy your new CPC664 

from M ANUKAU COMPUTERS as no other 

store has DISC DRIVE SOFTWARE which is 

so important for this new machine! 



We are members of the N.Z. 
Direct Marketing Association 
the only Computer Mail 
Order Service that has made 
this commitment. This 
ensures very high standards. 

We regularly update our price 
list and post it out, so no 
matter where you are in N.Z., 
we can keep you more up to 
date than the average 
Auckland resident. 



N.Z.'s No. 1 AMSTRAD RETAILER 




Includes baili- in 34QK Disc 
Drive & Green Screen 
Monitor I Colour add $400) 



We can offer you free 
overnight delivery to 
your door 
WARNING: 



If you are thinking of buying 
elsewhere, don't check out the 
availability of Disc Drive Soft- 
ware, We have 95% of all our 
vast range of cassette software 
on disc-.Jn fact, we have more 
software than any shop in the 
Southern Hemisphere — both 
disc and cassette! 



TiWTlf 



COMPUTERS 



PHONE: AK 656-002 

P.O. BOX 26-074, Auckland 3 
Corner Manukau Road & Pah Rd, Epsom 

HOURS: 10 to 5 Monday thru Saturday 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 21 



HARDWARE R€VI€W 



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The in-built BASIC has been 
upgraded with the addition of new 
commands such as the FILL and 
MASK graphics commands. 

The unit is supplied with the CP/M 
operating system and LOGO, also 
from Digital Research. Even when 
CP/M is not being used - as when 
running straight from the in-built 
BASIC - the format on the disk is still 
compatible with CP/M. 

For those familiar with CP/M, the 
beginning of the BDOS is at 8F00H 
which leaves about 36K available for 
programs. 



Microcomputer summary 



Extra ports 



At the rear of the machine are a 
connector for the second disk drive, 
a five-pin DIN plug for connection to 
a standard audio cassette, and the 
plug and cord for the 12V supply 
from the monitor - as well as the 
ports on the CPC464. 

The second disk drive socket is 
able to transfer information from Bin 
disks as 3in drives have the same 
data plug connectors as their 5in 
counterparts. The signals are the 
same, except the CPC664 makes 
use of an additional READY* line not 
present on a standard interface. 

The operating system supports 
three disk formats - a system format 
which contains the CP/M operating 
system which has 171K of storage 
available; a CP/M-compatible data 
only format; and the format used by 
the IBM PC range of computers and 
look^a-Ukes. 

Three packages 

Three other packages were 
supplied for review with the unit but 
are purchased separately. 



Name: 

Manufacturer: 

Processor: 

Clock Speed: 

RAM: 

ROM: 

Input/Output: 

Keyboard: 
Display: 

Graphics: 



BASIC: 
Sound: 
Cost: 
Options: 



Reviewer's ratings 
(5 the highest): 



Amstrad CPC664 

Made in Korea for Amstrad UK 

Z80 

4HMz 

64K 

32K 

Stereo sound, joystick, Centronics printer, second floppy disk, 

RBG and B/W composite video, cassette drive. 

Typewriter style QWERTY, numeric and cursor. 

Three modes: 80 by 25 characters; 40 by 25 characters; 20 

by 25 characters. 

Three modes as listed above: 640 by 200 pixels In two 

colours; 320 by 200 pixels in four colours; 160 by 200 pixels 

in 16 colours from a palette of 27 colours. 

Locomotive BASIC 

Three voice of seven octave, plus white notse. 

With RBG monitor, $1895; with green screen $1495. 

Second disk drive $550; printer $695; joystick $29.95; 

Advanced Amsword $89.95; Mtcrospread $189.95; MicroPen 

$189.95. 

Documentation 4; Ease of use 4; language 5; expansion 5; 

value for money 4; support 4. 



(Review unit from Grandstand Computers Ltd. Auckland.) 



Advanced Amsword is a word 
processing package which has a 
strong resemblance to the CP/M 
WordStar program. It does not run 
under CP/M and it was clumsy to 
have to change between AMSDOS 
and CP/M to use it and the other 
CP/M programs, 

Microspread is a spreadsheet that 
runs under CP/M. Unfortunately, it 
did not come up to expectation. 
There were no examples to get the 
first-time starter under way - only a 
description of each of the 
commands. Two demonstration files 
were included on the disk - but again 
no working examples. However, the 
program provided a good selection of 
features. The method of ^entering 
formulas by cursor position is the 
main difference facing experienced 
users of a spreadsheet. 



The third package was a database 
manager. Micropen runs under CP/M 
to provide a method of manipulating 
the data for stock inventory or 
telephone lists. It supplied all the 
features necessary for keeping a 
small database. 

As the amount of memory 
available to run the program is 
limited to 36K, any decision to use 
CP/M programs not sold by an 
Amstrad agent should be checked to 
see if sufficient memory is available, 
as well as other possible restrictions. 

The basic machine is value for 
money, The hardware is sound and, 
if you are contemplating buying an 
Amstrad, the built-in disk drive is 
superior to the tape drive for speed 
and ease-of-use, for a reasonable 
increase in price. 




22 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



A rear view of the Amstrad CPC 664 keyboard 



'The printer with the mostest for the leastest!' 

— Shane Doyle 




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SITS & BYTES - August 1 985 - 23 



HARDWARE R6VI6UJ 

Talking back to you . . 

By Alex & Fred Wong 



If you aren't careful, that's exactly 
what the Speech Synth from BC 
Micro will do. This latest product in 
the BC Micro range is a speech 
synthesiser card and driving 
software that plugs into the Apple II 
Plus or lie to provide it with an 
artificial voice. 

The Speech Synth card is neat and 
simple with only three chips (and a 
few assorted bits and pieces), one 
2in speaker and a socket to connect 
the card to an external output such 
as a stereo amplifier for a bigger, 
bolder sound. 

It may be installed in any slot, 
simply by plugging it in although the 
driving software defaults to slot 4, 

There are two ways of using the 
Speech Synth's capabilities — by 
using the software supplied with the 
DOS 3.3 system disk or your own 
programs in either BASIC or 
assembly language. 

When the System Master is 
booted, the animated, two-page title 
presentation appears and the two 
machine language binary files that 
drive the Speech Synth are loaded, 
Press any key and the main menu 
comes up. 

Eight choices 

The eight choices are: change slot 
— so that the software will know 
where the card is; change pitch — to 
give the voice a higher or lower tone; 
change speed — to speed up or slow 
down the speech; hear set-up — to 
hear the results of these actions; 
save set-up — which saves the 
results of these actions to disk as the 
default values everytime the disk is 
booted; talker — which makes the 
Speech Synth speak what is typed, 
with a choice of either English words 
or phonetic input; demo — to hear a 
"control" sentence, programmed in 
phonetics, which is always spoken 
at the same pitch and speed; and exit 
to BASIC — which is where the 
Speech Synth gets exciting. 

For anybody familiar with BASIC, 
programming the Speech Synth is a 
breeze and it takes very little time to 
come up with some worthwhile (or 
at least fun) applications. 

While I was still wondering what 
to make it say, Fred was 
programming it to read AppleWorks 
word processor files which had been 
converted to DOS text files, 

Fred's simple 10-line BASIC 

24 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 






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program firstly loads the two Speech 
Synth driver files. Then it loads in 
part of the text file and reads ft into a 
string. After that, a machine 
language routine is called at 38131 
and the Speech Synth speaks as the 
words scroll by on the screen! It then 
loops back to read more. . . and more 
. . . and more . . . It's like having this 
little alien inside your computer that 
won't stop talking. 

Bearable English 

The Speech Synth card speaks 
bearable English. Its vocabulary is 
unlimited because, rather than 
having preset words, it follows 
certain rules of pronunciation. From 
the keyboard, it recognises the entire 
alphabet, all the numbers and the 
full-stop, comma, dash (or hyphen, 
depending on how it is used) and 
question marks. Nineteen will be said 
as '"one-nine" so 19 must be typed 
to achieve a vocal "nineteen"* 

Although the voice is definitely 
metallic, the speech is clear and easy 
to understand — with a few 
exceptions. When programmed in 
English, "ask" had to be spelt 
"aask" to be understandable, for 
instance. And devil sounds like 
'DeVille" and "kateT and "hate" 
sound indistinguishable when 
spoken individually, t 

However, clever spelling (if you 
are creative) can correct all but the 
most stubborn of the mis- 



pronunciations* For the fanatic 
phonetic who wants 95% accuracy 
when programming seriously, there 
is the international phonetic 
alphabet, This gives control over the 
stress and inflection of a word in 
eight degrees, and is placed as 
numbers after a syllable in a 
phonetically spelt word. "Good 
Morning" in English becomes 
"GUH4D MOHRNIHNX" in 

phonetics and for an even friendlier 
greeting can be typed as "GUH4D 
MOH3RNIHNX". 



Little casual 

The instructions may seem a little 
casual to the uninitiated, but all the 
necessary, pertinent information is 
there. The very brief programming 
example may lead to some 
consternation at first but can be 
mastered without too much pain. 

Operation of this voice synthesiser 
could perhaps be improved to sound 
more human and understandable but 
only at a much greater cost to the 
consumer. Considering it costs less 
than $80, it provides an excellent 
learning tool for anyone wanting to 
know more about speech, and adds 
another dimension to your BASIC 
programs. 

Further information: 
BC Micro, 
P.O. Box 19-375, 
Avondale, 
Auckland 1 . 



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BITS & BYTES - August 1 985 - 25 



BUSINESS 



:-:-:^M-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:.-.-:-:-:-:-:.:.:v: -:^/^-:<o.-:-:^:<-:->:<<.^^^^ 



Making maps on micros 



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By Pip Forer 



One of the more serious uses of 
computer graphics is to allow the display 
of information. Integrated programs with 
business graphics, generally simple 
charts such as pie graphs and 
histograms, have gained a great deal of 
limelight in the last year and are very 
good for summarising business trends, 
market shares and the like. 

A lot of information of wider interest 
however is spatial data - data collected 
for a particular place, say a suburb or a 
region of a country. Yet programs that 
draw maps illustrating spatial patterns 
are much less common, even though the 
census produces major amounts of such 
data. This is in spite of the fact even 
quite humble microcomputers can 
produce useful maps while models with 
good graphics can prove extremely good 
at the job. 

This article looks at some of the 
problems microcomputer mapping 
poses. For this purpose, we will restrict 
ourselves to one particular sort of map, 
the shaded map as shown in figure 1 . To 
give some context to the discussion, we 
will consider two particular teaching 
projects we have been involved with in 
the geography department at Canterbury 
University - mapping census data for 
New Zealand counties (figure 2) and 
results for New Zealand electorates 
(figure 3). 

These two examples reflect a common 
sort of mapping problem where you have 
a set of areas for which you want to 
display data. In the census case fa suite 
of programs called MAPSTAT), there are 
many possible variables you may want to 
display. 

In the election example (called 
Hustings 84) t you are probably 
interested in just one variable - which 
party wins in each seat. Producing a 
shaded map in either of these cases has 
four components: 

• Making the data you need available to 
the user. In the census case, that may 
mean loading information from a data 
bank on disk and asking the user what 
classes they wish to divide the data into. 
In Hustings, we have a program that 
shifts voters around, and then calculates 
what party wins each electorate. We will 
not discuss the issues raised by this 
operation here. 

• Drawing the outline map. There are 
two options for this which we can 
discuss. 

• Shading in the colours. Usually, this 
needs some extra software above and 
beyond the microcomputer's standard 
facilities. 

• Getting a final copy. The main problem 
here is whether to use a plotter or 
printer, and finding a standard way of 
driving whichever you choose, 




Austral i &»»&* 



K*y. 



»i 




U.Pil 



Figure 1: Australia: Before and After. A simple outline and a consequently shaded 
map for data display on an unexpended Apple He. 



N.Z, COUNTIES 1966 




Figure 2: A more demanding case for colour shading 
Mode 1 shown before shading. 



1 06 areas mapped on BBC 



For any given set of data, you will have 
a set of areas representing where the 
data was collected from. In the counties 
case, we use 106 local authorities; for 
Hustings, there are 95 constituencies. 
You need to draw these on a map. 

First, you will need a microcomputer 
that can cope with the level of detail 
needed for your data, and that is partly 
defined by the smallest area you need to 
draw (look closely at figure 2). With four 
colours available and 100 areas to map, 
you would need at least 300 by 250 
screen resolution. If you are going to use 
monochrome graphics with patterned 
fills to replace colours, you may need 
twice that. 

You will also be helped if you have a 
pure bit-mapped screen, not a hybridised 
mapping. The BBC, QL and graphics 
NEC-APC meet the bill, as does the IBM- 
PC if you add on a graphics card, Apple 
Ms, Polys and Commodore 64s might 
have a bit more trouble but the off-the- 
peg Macintosh can cope (and has useful 
on board routines) »f monochrome is 
acceptable. 



Next, you need to decide how flexibly 
you want the user to look at the data. 
There are two ways of presenting an 
outline to the user. 

You can recall an existing screen 
image from disk. With this option you 
completely control what the user sees. 
You can use standard sketchpad 
software and a graphics tablet (figure 4) 
to lay out and view the eventual map and 
ensure optimal destgn and clarity (a 
graphics tablet is essential for map 
outline creation - try creating Fiordland's 
outline by hand if you doubt me). In the 
display program, the map is placed on 
the screen by a single command and 
usually loads from disk in a second or 
less. 

The other option is to draw the outline 
and areas for the user from a set of 
points saved on disk. With this option, 
you actually see the map being drawn 
up. A crude program will just play dotto 
by linking the outline points up; a more 
sophisticated one will smooth the points 
using techniques such as splines or 
fractals. This option has two drawbacks 
and one great advantage. 



26 - BITS & BYTES - August 1 985 



ftUSYNtSS 



The inevitable drawback is that it is 
slower - often very much slower, 
sometimes even go-and-rnake-a-cup-of- 
coffee slower. The second problem 
relates to Its great advantage which is 
that the user can be allowed to draw the 
map back at any scale and even look at 
just a section of the map. The user can 
zoom in on one area, or the database can 
cover a much wider area than could 
usefully appear on screen at any one 
time. 

However, this flexibility presents a 
problem - handling the positioning of 
things like labels and the key. You do 
these latter things intuitively when you 
draw up the outline using method one, 
but here the machine must supply the 
intelligence so that if the user expands 
the map up a size, the map title does not 
appear in a position where it would now 
obscure some key detail, or equally be 
written off the screen. 

AH this can be done, and scientists at 
the Ministry of Works science centre in 
Christchurch are doing it on PCs using 
land inventory data, But it takes time. 

For interactive applications such as our 
examples, we might choose to stick with 
the pre-drawn map notion. Figure 2 is 
just that - a map of counties drawn with 
a graphics pad. in our programs, this 
map is simply loaded from disk and is the 
only display option the user gets. 
However, it is quick and guaranteed 
effective. On some machines, we may 
still want to draw outlines from points, 
but not allow the user flexibility. This 
relates to the way in which colour fills 
are generated, which leads us on to, . . 



Colouring the areas 



There are two popular ways of 
colouring areas in on microcomputers. 
The less common relies on being given a 
series of points (at least three but as 
many as several hundred) which when 
linked up, define an area on a map. Filling 
an area with this method involves 
passing the co-ordinates of all the points 
around the area's outline to a routine, 
along with colour or pattern code. The 
routine draws the outline in and fills the 
area inside the points. This method 
requires that you have the area's co- 
ordinates and draw them, hence the 
comment at the end of the last 
paragraph. Poly, the MS-DOS Grafix 
kernel, Filevision on the Macintosh and 
the BBC (with triangles only) offer this 
facility. 

Far more common are flood fills which 
require just a bounded area (say a focal 
authority outline). The programmer 
passes the machine the location of a 
seed point within the area. The flood fill 
starts at the point and fills the area with a 
specified colour or pattern by sensing 
where the borders of the area are. 

The only danger with flood fills is if you 
have a hole in your perimeter, the fill 
escapes and your map looks awful. Few 
BASICs and even fewer other languages 
have flood fills as standard but all 
machines now have software available 



ELECTION '84 



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A RESULTS '84 




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MAJOR PARTY DISAFFECTION 

P=Print D=DiskSaue M=Menu U=Uiew Shift 

Figure 3: How the e feet ion might have been. The shaded results from a 
hypothetical result of the 1984 election where strong swings against the major 
parties have been simulated. 



to produce flood fills. A good fill can fill a 
complex area in a very short time, 

An important aspect of such fills is 
that they can be used to increase the 
range of colours available. Many eight- 
bit micros offer only four colours at 
acceptable screen resolution. With one 
needed for background and one for the 
outline, this leaves two shading colours. 
The usual trick is to alternate these in 
certain ways to give a new hue. On a bad 
monitor, the dots may merge so that red 
and yellow may actually appear 
orange . . . the only saving grace I know 
of with bad monitors. On a good 
monitor, the result is a hatching effect. 
Colour undoubtedly produces the best 
results, but a good monochrome pattern 
fill can also be very effective. 

There are a couple of technical 
problems. Patterns and "new" colours 
(often termed quilted fills) need more 
space to be recognisable. On a machine 
with eight colours for eight shading 
classes, an area with just one dot can be 
recognisably shaded. With patterns or 
quilted colour fills, an area several dots 
square may be needed to clearly 
establish its classification. 




Figure 4: A typical graphics tablet or 
digitiser. The pen can be used to trace an 
outline and send the co-ordinates of 
points back to the computer. 



The other problem is that on machines 
without pure bit mapping (among them 
the Apple (I and Poly), a change of one 
dot can interfere with neighbouring dots 
(so that you can colour one area neatly 
but colouring its neighbour may then 
affect the results). You get round this 
problem by being careful where you 
place borders (the state boundaries in 
figure 1 were very carefully placed). But 
with many, small areas, this can be 
awkward if not impossible to do 
perfectly. 

In our case, we chose flood fills and to 
fit in with other users, we adopted a 
quilted colour fill for the result. This 
would be the standard programming 
response to this kind of problem. 

Making the map 

The user can experiment with some 
data and then produce a map. The maps 
take about 1 5 seconds to draw up and sit 
there in glowing colour. What then? To 
be useful in talking to others, the maps 
need to be copied out permanently. 
What options are there here? 

The prettiest and fastest is 
undoubtedly to direct capture the screen 
image using high-quality photographic 
techniques (instant slides are best). 
However, this is expensive per copy and 
still does not give a large, printed result. 
If you want cofour and size, you are 
probably talking about plotting or 
printing. 

Plotting direct from the screen doesn't 
work and plotters really relate far more to 
the "draw-it-each-time" mode of 
production (even there filling is not 
simple). Colour printers, able to handle 
seven colours, are now getting quite 
cheap* We dump our best maps down on 
to a normal dot-matrix colour printer 

BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 27 



TANDY 



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Tandy 1000 

Tandy 1 000. The latest addition to the 
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using a three-colour ribbon when 
working in colour. Each map takes a few 
minutes to dump from the screen but the 
results are quite acceptable. 

What you come back to is that for 
most of us, the best output (because it is 
the only option) is still a black and white 
printer. This poses a new problem - how 
to capture colour on to monochrome 
paper, Some professional printer dumps 
use a square of several dots on the 
printer for each dot on screen and use a 
graded scale of dot density within that 
square to represent each colour. 

Figure 3 used a different approach. 
Here, background and one shading 
colour became white on the printer, the 
outline and the other shading colour 
became black. While this loses the 
outline in some areas where solid colour 
fills border (down in Southland for 
instance), the good news is that the 
colour quilts textures come across 
differently so that the five shading 
classes are distinguishable. Black and 
white printer dumps are easier to get and 
faster (by an order of four) than colour 
ones. 

The great thing about dot-matrix 
printers is that they can just grab the 
screen image (which is coded in dots) 
and print it out themselves (since they 
work on dot printing). All that's needed 
is a printer driver. Alas, while almost all 
printers will now print graphics, many 
work differently and a common printer 
driver does not exist. 

By a devious path, we have arrived 
with a finally printed map. The 
components needed to assemble it were 
not that great but the results, in terms of 
data display, are of general use. Even 
small micros, as long as their graphics 
are good, can do a worthwhile job in 
terms of displaying and analysing spatial 
data so that more meaningful patterns 
emerge. 

Further information on Hustings 84 or 
MAPSTAT can be obtained from the 
author, Department of Geography, 
University of Canterbury, Private Bag, 
Christchurch, Figure 1 comes from the 
author's book, "Applied Apple 
Graphics' 1 , and appears courtesy of 
Prentice Hall international. 



On the move 

Sefwyn Arrow, the original 
Auckland editor of Bits & Bytes 
magazine and until recently, 
chairman of the New Zealand 
Microcomputer Club, has joined 
Businessworld World computers as 
customer support manager in 
Auckland, 

Selwyn remains editor of the 
Microcomputer Club magazine, NZ 
Micro, which from this month, will 
be distributed to club members as an 
insert in Bits & Bytes. Any other club 
interested in distributing its 
magazine in a similar way should 
contact Paul Crooks or Gaie Ellis, in 
Auckland. 



28 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



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CASHLINK 



Small business accounting in a 
single package 



By John Slane 



In contrast to earlier trends, newer 
accounting systems for small businesses 
are moving increasingly towards 
integrated units so that one software 
package can give you most of what you 
are likely to want. 

Not only is this convenient, but the 
integrated package will in many 
instances cost you less than buying all 
the modules you want as separate items. 

CashLink comes on a single disk. If you 
are using 720K drives, you will probably 
be able to fit the program and your data 
all on one drive. For 360K drives, a 
separate data or "journal" disk will be 
required. This can be formatted from a 
CashLink utility subroutine. 

A comprehensive ring-binder manual is 
provided in which the introductory guide 



sets out the basics of accounting 
methods for the uninitiated. This almost 
amounts to a crash course in 
accountancy and will be immediately 
intelligible to anyone with at least a 
passing knowledge of accountancy 
terms. 



Nothing unusual 



There is nothing unusual about the 
system, which follows normal double- 
entry book-keeping practice. However, 
the capacity of the computer to rapidly 
access and organise data is exploited in 
the provision made within the program to 
monitor trends, developments and 



history of the business. For example, 
sales results can be monitored by the 
day, or week, or month. A trial balance 
can be produced quickly at any time. 

Being specifically designed for the 
small business which does not have full- 
time accountancy personnel, CashLink 
is biased to provide on-the-spot 
management information rather than 
sophisticated accounting options. To 
this end, it stores all details of every 
invoice - a capacity which CashLink 
claims is unique among small business 
system packages. 

Provision is also made for the choice of 
either "open item method" or "balance 
brought forward" system of account 
handling, or a mixture of both at the 
same time. There are 1 28 analysis codes 




GESPAC support all leading processors: 



6802, 6809, 68000, 68010 

8085 8088, 8087, 80286 

Z80 

16032 

J11 (PDP11/70 compatible) 



GESMPU-4A 

16 32 bit architecture with S MHj 68000 processor 

16 MHz quart; controlled oscillator 
■ Sockets for up to 128 KbvLes EPROM (2732 to 27256) 

Sockets tor up to IS Kbytes RAM (with 64 Kbytes EPROM maximum) 

Addressing capability extensible to 512 Kbytes for memory and 2 Kbytes for \ O 

RS 232-C Serial interface with programmable Baud Rate 

Triple 16 bit Timer 

Multiple initialisation mode for Reset and Abort 
* Standard Power supply * 5V. t 12V 



Motorola: 

Intel: 

Zilog: 

National: 

Digital: 

plus: 

Memories 

Disk Controllers 

Serial and Parallel I/O 

Industrial and Instrumentation Interfaces 

Bubble Memory 

Over 100 Boards available. 

Additional Features: 

G-64 bus 16 bit bus on single Euroboard, the 
perfect upgrade for the STD 8 bit bus, 
G-96 bus - G64 compatible, plus multiprocessing. 
Second Sou reed by Thomson Semiconductor. 
Swiss manufacture and quality. 
Development System and Software support. 

Technical specifications and prices on application, 

E.G. Gough Ltd 




Auckland 
Wellington 
Chnstchurch 
Dunedin: 



Phone 763 174 
Phone 686 675 
Phone 798 740 
Phone 775 823 



E C GOUGH 

ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION DIVISION 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 29 



INT€GRflT€D PACKAGES 



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built in, with provision for a further 256 
in the ledger formatting area. 

With the likelihood of a goods and 
services tax less than 18 months away, 
this British-based program has neatly 
changed "VAT" into "GST" so that the 
package is ready for anything Mr Lange 
can throw at us. Seven codes for GST 
values are available (including two 
''exempt"), and all the non-exempt 
values can be customised. As the 
proposed GST will, we hope, have only 
one or, at the most, two codes, CashUnk 
will have the capacity to include GST. 

In fact, CashUnk is so far ahead, the 
invoices printed on the demonstration 
program were actually irrelevant to the 
current situation. Somehow, "GST" 
needs to be changed to "sales tax" to be 
applicable at present. Purchasers will 
need to check with their dealers that this 
can be done. 



Fail-safe 



To keep the tax inspector happy, there 
is a fail-safe provision for printing audit 
trails. Critical updating and clearing of 
old transactions is not allowed until the 
appropriate audit trails have been 
printed. Normally, an audit trail is taken 
weekly or monthly, and then filed for 
future reference. Each time an audit trail 
is successfully printed, the transaction 
file is marked so that the next audit trail 
is taken from that point on. The audit 
trail for the sales ledger includes 
transaction totals and GST or sales tax 
for the whole of the current period. 

In summary, CashUnk makes 
accounting provision for: general ledger, 
debtors' ledger, creditors' ledger, 
invoices, statements, trial balance, aged 
balance, analysis, credit notes, journals, 
journal adjustments, turnover, audit trail, 
sales analysis, 

In addition, there are various utilities 
accessed from menus or direct 
commands to facilitate housekeeping 
tasks such as back-ups, disk formatting, 
printer drivers, invoice formatting, and 
so on, A scratchpad, which holds a 
maximum of 1 500 characters, can be 
called up from anywhere in the program. 

A full WordStar word processor is also 
included, and can access the scratchpad 
and data files (for form letters). This is 
quite a sophisticated feature. A sub- 
program will print labels from selected 
data files, 

CashUnk is clearly a very 
comprehensive piece of software in the 
range of tasks it is equipped to carry out, 
Let's look at what it is like to the 
operator. 

Because the "live" program supplied 
would not recognise a disk it had just 
formatted and labelled "journal", as a 
journal disk, I was not able to examine 
the setting-up procedures. Obviously, 
this is a one-off bug and should not 
concern a first-time buyer since the 
dealer could reasonably be expected to 
set up the program to the user's 
specifications. (There may or may not be 
an additional charge for this, so It could 
pay to shop around.) 

30 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



Summing up 



CashUnk provides a valid and genuinely useful accounting and management 
tool For a small business, it seems admirably well set up to cope with an 
appropriate range of requirements. 

Since it takes a little time to set itself up from power-on, it will probably be best 
used in block times rather than intermittently if the computer is to be used for 
other tasks also. 

From the operator's point of view, CashUnk will be seen to be strictly linear and 
static. It falls well short of the current "state of the art" for dynamic screen 
management. However, for a new user to computer accounting, the program 
should prove quite satisfactory provided a slap-happy approach to data entry is 
not adopted. 

CashUnk comes with normal copyright protection and can be operated and 
backed up only by the registered user. 

As a complete accounting system, CashUnk has to be seriously considered in 
the value -for- money stakes. 

(Review software provided by MEC, P.O. Box 9224, Auckland). 



I had more success with the 
demonstration program supplied. The 
program is menu-driven without any 
bells and whistles - enter the number 
that stands for the menu choice. 

Inconsistent 



However, my first criticism is that 
CashUnk is inconsistent in the ways it 
deals with input. If there are fewer than 
10 menu choices, an "INKEYS" routine 
is used so that the first numeric input is 
immediately acted upon. A check allows 
the user to confirm the selection. But if 
the menu selection is greater than nine 
(requires one or two digits to be 
entered), the program does nothing until 
"RETURN" is pressed. The first rule of 
good programming is consistency and 
CashUnk does not observe this. 

If you remember what to do to make 
selections from the menus, the program 
moves you efficiently to where you want 
to go. As CashUnk is used, it is obvious 
many files are being accessed and data is 
being tucked away in a variety of pigeon 
holes for analysis by category as 
required. Again, this is done efficiently. 
The complexity of the file handling and 
program parameters can be assumed 
from the time it takes to establish the 
program from power-on - from 30 to 90 
seconds depending on the computer 
(IBM type} used. 

One of the first requirements on start- 
up is to enter the date. It was nice to see 
that CashUnk knows how dates should 
be written - day, month, year. It also 
remembers the last date entered and an 
update simpfy requires the new day 
and/or month without putting in all eight 
characters. 

On the other hand, some screens are 
very static and linear. No dynamic cursor 
control is available in spite of the fact 
that on an IBM-type keyboard, this 
program opens with the cursor keys 
active - don't try entering the date using 
the numeric keypad until you've hit the 
"NUM LOCK" button. On invoices, the 
only way to do corrections is to step 
through the current item until you are at 
the point to change - a series of presses 
on the "RETURN" key. 



Only recourse 

If you discover an error in an entry 
further up the invoice, your only recourse 
is to abandon ("ESCAPE") the whole 
invoice and start again. This is an 
inefficient style of programming on a 
$1600 package. 

Some features for invoicing are very 
good. To find a customer, any unique 
string can be used as CashUnk uses an 
"INSTRING" routine to search all 
customer data to find a match - you 
don't necessarily have to use the starting 
characters. If you know the appropriate 
product code and enter that, the program 
provides the product description, unit 
price and tax if applicable. Discount is 
automatically calculated if previously 
specified for particular customers. More 
information is provided on the VDU 
presentation of an invoice than is printed 
on the invoice sent to the customer. 

A standard pre-printed invoice is 
available locally to suit the CashLink 
format - provided you don't mind A4 
sheets. No utility is provided to format 
invoices to any different (lesser) size. 

If a buffer is not provided on your 
printer |as was the case on the supplied 
machine, a Panasonic Senior Partner 
portable with thermal printer), then 
invoice production is frustratingly slow 
since the printing starts after the first 
accepted line of entry. Without a buffer, 
nothing else can be entered from the 
keyboard until heading data and the first 
item line have been printed. 

The oniy other problem noted on the 
invoice routine was that an invoice 
cannot be given a date other than the 
one In computer memory. Provision is 
made for resetting the invoice date but 
this is actioned only on the remittance 
slip, I suspect this may be a bug. 

All the other facilities, although given a 
less thorough testing, appeared to work 
as designed, A remarkable amount of 
analysis information can be fed back to 
the user. Effective use is made of wide 
and bold printing to enhance legibility of 
reports and balances. These printer 
commands can easily be customised for 
any printer. 



TV* 6 ! W ! 



ONE 




a single O* 
\ntegtated 

accounting 
System 



hLinh) 



Cashlink does it all for small to medium business. $1595. 

• GENERAL LEDGER • STATEMENTS • MAILSHOTS 

• DEBTORS LEDGER • WORD PROCESSING • LABELS 

• CREDITORS LEDGER • GOODS AND SERVICES TAX • PRICE LISTS 

• STOCK CONTROL * TRIAL BALANCE • SALES ANALYSIS 

• INVOICES • PURCHASE ANALYSIS • AGED BALANCES 



Extremely friendly. Complete integration — no 
daffy or monthly update. Foolproof, self maintain- 
ing backup system, Integrated word processing. 
Simple to install — all on one disc. 

Wilt run on — Panasonic Sr Partner PC 
IBM PC or compatible 
Eagfe PC 
Sanyo PC 

Requires minimum — 128K RAM, 2 x floppy drives, 
printer (hard disk drive optional). 



For more details, a demonstration, a test drive or 
the name of your nearest dealer, contact: 




DEALER 
PRODUCTS 



THE MICROCOMPUTER ELECTRONIC CO LTD.. 
27 GREAT SOUTH ROAD. NEWMARKET, AUCKLAND, 
P.O. BOX 9224, AUCKLAND 1, NEW ZEALAND. 
TELEPHONE (09) 504-774, TELEX NZ 60721 MEC 

a Fisfier & PayfceF lid subsidiary 



TCCH007 



SOFTWARE R€VI€W 



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Real value for money 



By Gordon Findlay 

Otakou Software, a small company operating from 
Dunedin, has produced a package of software for Apple 
computers which will be of interest to all Apple users. 
Although advertised ae the Otakou Software educational 
package, with many features specifically designed for 
use in primary and secondary schools, there is no doubt 
that most, if not all, Apple users will find something of 
use and interest in the group of programs. 

The package consists of four programs, available 
together or separately: 

• The Sorcerer's Apprentice - a versatile, sophisticated, 
but easy-to-use picture editor, 

• Second Opinion - a spelling checker which works in 



conjunction with most, if not all word processors. 

* Twist-a-plot - a 'story teller' , or adventure generator if 
you like, 

* Easy LOGO - a group of extensions and enhancements 
to Apple LOGO. 

These packages are among the best Apple software 
available- That sounds like a sweeping statement, and 
while they aren't In the same class as, say Appleworks, 
they are, in their respective classes, the best I've seen. 
And because of the nature of my job {I'm a teacher), and 
my spare time activities (writing for Bits & Bytes), I have 
seen a lot of software. The Otakou software scores 
heavily for ease of use, usefulness and friendliness. 



Second Opinion 



Second Opinion, written by John 
Shanks, is a spelling checker designed to 
be as convenient as possible for use with 
only one disk drive. It has an expandable 
dictionary, starting with about 44,000 
words, and can check the spelling of files 
created by most word processors, 
whether text or binary files, but not 
under ProDos. 

Booting the computer with the checker 
disk presents a title page, then the main 
menu. At the main menu level you can 
load text from disk to be proofread, save 
text back again after checking, 
catalogue the disk, proofread text 
already loaded, find the amount of free 
space in the dictionary, or access the 
dictionary for insertion, deletion or look- 
up of words. 

The dictionary is on the reverse of the 
program disk, but may be copied to 
another. 

All text must be loaded into memory 
before proofing can begin. This naturally 
limits the amount of text which can be 
checked at once, but isn't a serious 
limitation. The length of text file which 



can be loaded isn't given, but seems to 
be bigger than an Appiewriter file 
anyway. 

Once text is loaded, the checker 
rapidly counts the words and compares 
them to the 50 most common words in 
the language. It then prompts for the 
dictionary disk if necessary, and 
reasonably quickly, checks all the 
remaining words against the dictionary. 
This takes only about 20 seconds for 
500 words. 

Once this checking is completed, a 
number of options are presented. They 
allow for listing of all suspect words, 
marking all suspect words, viewing of 
suspects, access to the dictionary to 
look up words, or use of another 
dictionary. 

Viewing of suspect words shows each 
word in context, then allows each to be 
marked for correction, left alone or 
inserted in the dictionary, and also 
permits dictionary access. Marked 
words are indicated by insertion of a 
marker character, usually ***, at the 
beginning of the word - the character 



may be changed. A word processor may 
be used to locate these markers, and to 
correct the word appropriately. 

Dictionary access allows the listing of 
all words matching a given pattern - all 
words starting with T, for example, or all 
four-letter words starting with t and 
ending with K* Naturally, words may be 
inserted and deleted. Specialised or 
personal dictionaries can also be built to 
supplement the main dictionary by using 
the utility menu to create an empty 
dictionary and then inserting into it. 

A disk copy utility is also provided. The 
manual is small and very clearly written 
by Kai Jensen. I noticed one or two 
minor omissions, but nothing difficult. 

For the Apple user with one drive, this 
is a very convenient, powerful and 
trouble-free checker. I can imagine it 
being used in schools with no difficulty 
at all - and it has, ! understand, been 
used in primary schools. The program, 
with neatly printed, spiral bound manual, 
costs a mere $40, which is just about 
too cheap. 



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Twist-a-Plot 

Twist-a-Plot; an adventure story telling 
program, takes a story written in a 
prescribed pattern, and turns it into an 
illustrated adventure story, in much the 
same pattern as the twist-a-plot books. 
The story is written using a word 
processor, and can include pictures from 
a library'. A library of 84 pictures is 
supplied; the Sorcerer's Apprentice may 
be used to make more. 

Twist^a-plot was written by a primary 
teacher, Jim Ferguson, who has used it 
extensively in his classes. It is hard to 
imagine a child for whom this program 
will not have some appeal. The stories 
may be read - that's one level of 
interaction. They may be written - 
another level - and graphics 
incorporated, 

In reading the stories, there are four 
options at each screen - yes or no If a 
choice is offered, forward to the next 
screen (or scene if you like) or back if 
that option is offered. Readers are asked 
to type their first name, which is then 
used throughout the story. 

Writers construct their stories using a 
word processor. Each screen is 
numbered, and the text typed. The 
reader's name may be incorporated 
using the character '''. Regardless of the 
format in which a story is written, words 
will not be split across lines when 
written. 

Each screen may include a picture, 
which will be recalled from a library on 
disk. Questions may be asked, and the 

Easy LOGO 

Easy LOGO is a system of additions to 
Apple LOGO, designed to enhance the 
ease of use of LOGO, It was originally 
developed for teenagers with gaps in 
their schooling and below average 
reading and writing skills. While some of 
the features are similar to parts of the 
LOGO Toolkit, there are significant 
differences, It was written by Chris 
Hilder, 

The main feature Is a learn mode. 
Turtle graphics commands are given, and 
executed. Mistakes may be reversed 
with the 'undo' command. Once a set of 
commands has been developed. It can be 
given a name, using 'call', and becomes 
a regular LOGO procedure. 

The learn mode and the very useful 
'undo' command are very powerful and 
useful extensions to Apple LOGO. Learn 
mode may be turned off and on at will, 
provided it was initially loaded (the 
option is given}. It need not be restarted 
for each procedure. 

Other utility commands and minor 
modifications are also provided. These 
include auto-quoting, avoiding the need 
to give that irritating and asymmetrical 
quote at the beginning of a procedure 
name to edit it. The editor uses all four 
arrow keys on the Me. 

Easy LOGO also implements a better 
version of the "save" command. Music 
can be incorporated using procedures 
NOTE, REST ( TONE, SILENCE, and 



flow of the story redirected depending 
on the reply (yes or no). The answer will 
determine which screen is read next. 
Pages need not be written in order - 
each page includes a command to "go 
to" the next. 

Adventure stories often include 
choices which have a delayed effect - 
pick up the bone at this place and later be 
attacked by a pack of hungry dogs. 
Checks of what has happened are made 
by checking to see if a particular page 
has been visited. This is simple but 
versatile in the hands of an imaginative 
writer. 

The manual is simple but complete. It 
contains full operating instructions for 
readers and writers, incorporating plenty 
of examples, notes for teachers, some 
more technical notes about configuration 
for various hardware, a complete list of 
error messages, their causes and cures, 
and some hints on style. 

The supplied picture library has 84 
pictures, some of which are used in the 
example adventures supplied (there are 
two) and others for general use, 
Graphics are generated rather than 
recalled in complete form, at an 
acceptable speed. 

Twrst-a-Plot is written primarily in 
machine code, and represents a major 
programming effort. No bugs have been 
found by my play-testers, The program, 
picture library and documentation retail 
for just $40 - very reasonable indeed. 



PLAY. 

A dynaturtle, which knows about 
inertia and the laws of motion, and can 
be kicked in a given direction Is 
implemented. Once moving, the 
dynaturtle keeps moving until it gets 
another kick - it doesn't know about 
friction! 

A range of programmer's tools is 
provided to convert between hex and 
decimal, clear lines or portions of the text 
screen, scroll the text screen, set a text 
window, clear the type-ahead buffer, 
and provide access to machine-code 
routines called from the monitor. 

The Easy LOGO manual was written 
both as an introductory tutorial, with 
minimal demands on the reading abilities 
of students, and as a reference manual. 
Unfortunately, it has rather fallen 
between two stools and ended up 
somewhat disorganised. Of course, the 
procedures given may all be loaded and 
listed to see how they work and exactly 
what they do, From the title pages, it 
appears the other manuals have been 
specially edited, but this one was written 
before the editing started. 

Easy LOGO may overlap with the 
LOGO Toolkit, but is stifl of interest and 
very good value at just $20. 

That leaves the Sorcerer's Apprentice, 
the largest of the programs in the Otakou 
package. Because of its size, versatility 

Turn to page 76 




otakou 
software 

This widely acclaimed Apple software is 
now available in a special offer to 
readers of Bits & Bytes. Post this 
order form to; 

FreepOSt 133 (No postage reqd] 
Otakou Software 
P.O. Box 6186 

Dunedin Worth 



order form 

LJ The Sorcerer's Apprentice 

A breathtaking picture editor — $50,00 

L_l The Second Opinion 

English spell ingchecker — compatible with 
all Apple DOS 3.3 word processors 

-$40.00 

CH Twist-a-Plot 
Illustrated adventure story teller 
(compatible with all Apple DOS 3.3 

word processors and Sorcerer's 
Apprentice pictures). — 540.00 

i_J Easy Logo 

This book and accompanying software 
eases the way into programming in Logo 
[requires Apple Logo] — $20.00 

G Rats 

The amazinq "rats-eye" 3D maze game 

-54. BO 

L_\ Number Facts and Count 

Two delightful drill programs for younger 
children — S3. 60 

This Is one of the most exciting software 
offers ever made through the pages of Bits 
<£ Bytes. The entire package, comprising all 
of the above programs [incredible value at 
SI 58.40], is available for only $117.00 
[a saving of £41 .40). This offer applies only 
to orders postmarked by 30th September 
1 995. Don't delay. Complete this order 
form and post it today. 



□ 



□ 



DECLARATION: I agree to respect 
copyright as it applies to this software. 



Yes. Please supply me with the 
Otakou Software Bits & Bytes 
package. I enclose a cheque for 
[51 17.00 + 52.50 p + p) $1 19-50. 

Please supply me with only the 
programs ticked above* I enclose a 

cheque for S [add 52*50 

post and packing). 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 33 



€DUCATION 



v,v^x.rco^-:o:.:-:-:-:-:o:-:->:-:-:-:-:^ 



82 69 65 68 65 66 76 69 
80 82 79 71 82 65 77 83 

I That heading is about as intelligible as many of the programs 
published in magazines. Of course, if you're a whizz, you will 
have already translated it from ASCII code as: 

Readable programs 

By Br Bosco Camden 



But I am not a "88 72 73 90 90", 
nor are the thousands of pupils In our 
schools who ought to be getting an 
authentic understanding of what 
programming means, If computers 
are so clever these days, why do we 
ordinary non-whizz people have to 
put up with programs that look like a 
hybrid of hieroglyphics and a bank 
statement? And have you been 
admitted to that inner circle which 
knows you can save a lot of bytes by 
omitting all spaces in your BASIC 
program! 

10 FORCE=MUTTON:IFEELTHE NEXT 
=0:NEXTCE 

Gone are the days when BASIC 
forced us into variable names like 
A 1 , ZZ and 00, but we still suffer the 
clumsiness of A$ and A% and GOTO 
9999 — where no doubt we will be 
instructed to GOSUB 45 unless ON 
ERROR we return to 1 5000! 

Some programs are never intended 
to be read by humans (the operating 
system in ROM, for instance) so can 
be obscure to all except the machine 
programmer. But my interest is in 
education, particularly the user end. 

Perhaps we should distinguish 
programs (and programming 
languages) into two groups: task- 
oriented and person-oriented, For the 
former, the objectives may be speed 
and efficiency, and may necessitate 
a sacrifice of readability. However, 
since the maintenance of business 
and scientific programs accounts for 
about 40% of total operating costs, 
readability should clearly be a prime 
objective here too. 

For the person-oriented program 
— that which ail students are dealing 
with — readability must be the first 
objective. For the learner, even 
before correctness. 

Ideal marriage 

BASIC grew out of machine- 
assembler code in the early days, 
and is only now evolving into a 



language which allows the user to 
write readable code with any 
realism. More recent languages,, 
notably Pascal, have tried to marry 
the two ideals of efficiency and 
readability. The particular machine in 
use will have its own limitations too 
— no way can a small computer 
allow any language but one close to 
its native machine code. 

There are more than 200 
computing languages in use, and 
each tries to achieve one or other 
ideal. They range from APL, which is 
incomprehensible at first sight but 
highly efficient in scientific 
applications, to PROLOG which 
reads like English but is far too 
verbose for calculations of any 
complexity. Of course, the problems 
of dealing with verbal "strings" are 
vastly different from those in the 
scientific field. 

So what is it about a language that 
makes for readability? First, it is the 
ability to name variables in a 
meaningful way — if we want to find 
the interest rate we should be able to 
use a variable name like INTEREST or 
INTRATE, rather than some coded 
name. Some languages allow this on 
the surface, but only the first two 
letters are significant — very 
limiting. 

Second, it should be possible to 
call a subroutine by name: 

IF INTRATE 14 THEN 
REPORT. NEGATIVE 

where REPORT, NEGATIVE is a 
subroutine which may print a report, 
reset the initial conditions, etc. 

Third, the control of repetitive 
processes should be simple, e.g.: 
REPEAT REPORT.NEGATIVE UNTIL 
INTRATE 1 4 

Fourth, it should be possible to use 
helpful words (with values TRUE or 
FALSE) in conditional statements: 
IF FINISHED THEN MENU1 

As even these isolated examples 
show, the readability and meaning of 
the program is greatly enhanced. 



This careful choice of names is often 
called "self-documentation" and 
should eliminate the need for further 
explanation through "comments". 
The test of a well-written program 
should be whether your companion 
can understand it simply by reading 
the code listing. 

One of the worst offenders in 
microcomputers is that devrl, POKE, 
and its PEEKy brother. Who wants to 
POKE 53280,4 when in LOGO r you 
can say SETBACKGROUND :RED! A 
program loaded with PPs is not likely 
to inspire the beginning programmer 
— more likely to push him or her into 
a very wrong understanding of what 
programming is all about. And rt is 
about logical structure and human 
interaction, not about esoteric smart 
gimmicks. 

So if you have a micro with basic 
BASIC, you must either learn to use 
that in an intelligible readable way, or 
replace the BASIC with some 
language which encourages self- 
documentation. Unfortunately for 
the pocket, this means a disk drive 
and language disk. The options seem 
to be (at least for the Commodore 64 
with which I am most familiar): 

* one of several upgraded versions 
of BASIC; 

* COMAL which already supports all 
the proposed standards for BASIC, 
and which is similar in appearance; 

* LOGO which goes far towards the 
ideals and was written for use by the 
young; all-purpose structured and 
powerful especially in graphics; 

* Pascal is the ideal for senior 
classes — at least six implement- 
ations available for C64; 

* PILOT which has a more 
specialised approach but quite 
feasible for schools; 

* FORTH is a user-structured 
language needing careful learning. 

My choice would be LOGO from 
primer 1 to form 5, then Pascal. And 
the transition would be easy. 

(Brother Bosco Camden is a member 
of the LXfV User Group.) 



34 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



A Powerful, Portable, Hard Disk 
Computer for Less than $6,000 






Son dwell 



p tUSf 

l 3 ,400 

SOFTWARE 





K 



If the Hard Disk 16 is more than you need — 
try the Model-12 or 14 for size! 




The'low-price-but-higti- 
power" Model-12 will only cost 
you $2995 — the price of an 
optmned-up home computer! But 
the Model-12 features 64k with 
two 200k floppy disk drives, plus 
printer and communications 
outlets. 



For the first time in New Zealand you can do business 
with a powerful portable hard disk computer for under six 
thousand dollars. 

Now, just $5995 buys you the 25lb one-plug 128k 
BondwelMfi, with a full 10 megabytes of disk storage. 
That's 30 times the capacity and 10 times the speed of a 
regular floppy disk. 

This mighty machine comes with every facility for the 
serious business computer user. Features include a built-in 
New Zealand-type modem (NZPO approval pending), print 
spooling and communications capabilities. Also, all 
Bondwells have full-sized keyboards with function keys 
and a numerics keypad, plus the ability to read other 
computers' disks and Videotex! capability. 

Amazingly, the BondweII-16 price includes 
complimentary software with a normal retail price of over 
$3400. 

These free programs include Word Processing, Mail 
Merging, Financial Modelling, Database Management and 
Accounting Systems. 

Hundreds of other programs — featuring a Crop and 
Livestock Management Series —are also available for the 
Bondwell range. 

At only $5995 the hard disk Bondwell-16 is sure to sell 
fast, so be in now. 

AVAILABLE FROM THESE AUTHORISED DEALERS 

Whangarei: ANDAS Centre 83550. Northland Computers B441& Auckland: Newton K'Rd Computers 399655, Ml. Eden Supertech 605216. Panmure Selcom Electronics 577199 Pakuranga 
Richard Enterprises 601713. Otahuhu. Total Dealer Solutions 27&45S7, Papakura Slh Auckland Computers 2996030. Mangere Lim Electronics 2759516. Ml Roskill Computer Academy 695045. 
Glendene Piaggi Systems &3G2642. Birkenhead Computer Terminal 4190543. Hamilton: Dollar Save Computers 393545 Te Kuili: Were & Associates SB133 Tauranrja: Business Machines Ltd 
86132 Rrtforua: Marljn Systems Ltd 477067 Gisborne: Business & Personal Computers 88256 Napier: Computer Connection 51965 Fending: David Brice Electronics 37141 Wanganui. D A 
Morrison & Co 53949 Palmerston North: Business Auto Centre 31103 Ekatatiuna: Norwai Computers 8007 Wellington: Capital Business Systems 663475, Micro Style Computers 636963. 
I OP 283194. Checkpoint Computers 326999 Nelson: Glenpark Business Services 84255 Chri&lc&urtli: RSM Compilers 50679. Turners Oltice Eq. 61275. Computer South Lid 60504. Custom 
Computers 596074 Ashburton: Smiih & Church 83428 Tiraaru: OliH Computers 44241 Dunedin: Souihem Computers 771295 Shand Computer Systems 778102 Gore: Eastern Southland 
Computers 5710 Invertargjll: Computer Systems Southland 44144 KOA/QTC 



In between is the highly 
popular ModeM4, A higher 
capacity version of the Model-12. 
the 14 has 128k and two 400k 
floppy disk drives, and the price 
is a low $3995. 

Both Models-12 and -14 have 
all the tree software found on 
the Hard Disk 16 -$3400 worth 
for ireel 




VI] Bonduuell 



Sole New Zealand Distributors 

ORCHID TRADING CO, LTD. P.O. 8ox 28-151, Auckland 



PROGRAMS 

SANYO MBC 555 

Slot Game 

By Chris Miller 

In this slot machine game, you bet up 
to $10 million, and three numbers will 
rapidly change, finally slowing down and 
stopping. If two numbers match, you 
win four times your bet; if all three 
numbers match, you win the jackpot of 
65 times your bet. Of course, if no 
numbers match you lose your money. 

You can obtain this game, plus a 
longer arcade game, Time Tube, if you 
send a formatted disk, S5 and a 30c 
stamp to P,0. Box 690, Gisborne. 

10 COLDP 2*0:CLS:SYMBOLMO,70) ."SLOT GAME 

",B, 5,1 i FOR 0=1 TO 20OO: NEXTj CLS: GOSUD 

300 

30 LOCATE 1.1: INPUT 'AMOUNT UF BET":AzB-l 

: IF AME+07 THEN 2Q0 

40 FDR C=l TO 12 

50 X = I NT t RND» 1 > : V- 1 NT ( RND* 1 > ; Z ~ I NT < ftND* 

10> 

60 LOCATE 12,26: PR INT Kj LOCATE 12,32tPRIN 

T V: LOCATE 12, 38: PRINT 2: BEEP 

90 FOP D=l TO C^2. 5:NEXT 

100 NEXT 

1 10 W=B 

120 IF X=V THEN B=B*4 

125 IF X=Z THEN B=B*4 

127 IF Z=V THEN B=B*1 

130 IF B=W*A4 THEN GOSUB *OQ 

150 IF B=l THEN B=-l 

160 G=E*B*A 

170 LI NE 1141,1 20 >-( 389 ,130) ,4,BF: LOCATE J 

6, 24 j PRINT B* A: LOCATE 1A, 33? PRINT" *"G"> 

200 LINE f 0*01 -(63V. 33) »0, BF: GOTO 30 

300 LINE < 190 >85>-< 332 .96) .2, B: L 1NE (235, B5 

> - ( 295 , 96 ) , 2 , B : L I NE ( 1 40 , 60 > - < 390 ,1701,7 

, B : C 1 PCLE ( 1 40 , J 70 > , 75 , - . 5 ♦ - , 75 , , 7 : C I RCLE < 

390, I 70) ,75 ,-.75,-1 , t 7: CIRCLE (265, 601 , l 

25 , . 5 , , * 2 , 7 : L 1 NE t l BO , 1 50 > - < 342 , 1 45 1 , , SF i 

PA I NT 1 265 . 5<? > , 1 , 7 ; P A I NT < 39 1 , 1 69 1 , 7 : PA I N 

T ( 1 39 , I 69 ) ,7 

310 LOCATE 14, 25: PR I NT "U]N/ AMOUNT" 

: LOCATE 15,25; PPINT "LOSS YOU QLIN/QWE 

350 RETURN 

400 SVIlBOLf 150,65) , "JACKPOT ! I ",3,2,6 

410 FOR 0=1 TQ 3000s NE*TsLlNE< 150,65) -133 

6, BO) , 4, BF: RETURN 



SPECTRAVIDEO 



Seaside 

by David Franks 



This routine produces the sound of 
waves crashing on the shore. 

10 SOUMDO, 10 

20 30UND7, I 

30 SOUNDS, 25 

-10 SDUMDI2,200 

50 SOUND i 1 ,0! 50UND12, 255 

60 S0UMDi3 s ; 

70 SOUNDS, 250 

75 50UND13, 14 

SO S0UND2, 150 

90 S0UND9,0 

LOO S0UND11 , 100 

110 S0UHD12,55 



COMMODORE 

Contest Log Keeping 

by A. R. Mitchell 

This program allows amateur radio 
enthusiasts to keep a log of any contests 
they may enter. First, you input the 
current time, using a six-figure number 
(seconds included). You are then asked 
to give the number of periods, the length 
of each period, and the starting time of 
the contest. Finally! you are asked 
whether you want locations included, 
since VHF contests often take the 
distance between stations into 
consideration when judging. 

If you leave the computer on, it will tell 
you to begin when the contest starts, 
and a call sign requested. The log 
number will be issued for the other 
station, and the program will wait for you 



to input the log number from the other 
station and the location if previously 
requested. The details will then be 
displayed on the screen and sent to the 
printer. 

The next call sign will then be 
requested- A comparison is made of all 
call signs within the same period, so if 
you try to call a station which has 
already been called, you will be told so 
and the next call sign requested. 

If your printer is not a 1 51 5 or you 
alter the format of the output, print time 
may change, and you will have to alter 
the number of seconds added to the 
variable, A, *n line 490, 



1 20 PR I NT " 33" : P0KE5328 1 , ^1 = E I MUG* CI 000 j 5 5 ■ UR=5900tr - NF- 1 : J= \ 
130 PRINT" 3 CONTEST LOGKEEPER 

149 PRINT *R INT" NHRT IS PRESENT TIME" 

150 PRINT" CEG. 8,00fiM = 0S00O0 3.0OPK * 210000 )"■ INPUTTI* 
160 PRINT PRINT :p HOU MflNV PERIODS IN THE CONTEST" • rNPUTPE 

170 PRINT^PRIHT'^HRT IS THE LENGTH OF EACH PERIOD CIH MINUTES)" • 1NPUTLE 

130 PRINT :PRINT'"^T TIKE DDES THE CONTEST 3TRR7 CUSE 24 HR CLOCK? '■ INPUT 

TS 

1% PRINT^PRINT'DO VGU WANT LGCP7ICHS" INPUTLOf : IFL0$-"V ,r THENLO-; 

200 GQ3U6S30 

210 PRINTS" 

220 FRINT" TIME IS ■ "LEFTfCTlfj 2); " - » j NIBKTIf , 3-2>; " : " :P;GHTfCTI* . 2> : " 

230 IFINT<VflLCTI^>/^0><TSTHENPRrN T :FRIN Tl, COKTE5T NOT STfiRTElW ■ 5OT0220 

240 FRlNT Jj n ^E' J RE OFF " 

250 Tt^LEFTfaiS^MMirtfCTI^G^ 

260 IFVRLCTi^^TlCJ^THENNP^X^RI^T^^EH PERIOD STftETEIT ■ J=J+t 

270 IFJ=PE+1THENP?INT" SIT'S RLL OVER F0LK5 ,: ENt 

230 PRINT'PRINT ,,, .-:H'-^ IS COLSTON" : IN^JTrc- 

2$® FOPI^NPTO'K 

?00 r r L0£<I ■2>-CP^THE^RI?JT" ALREADY UORKEB r \CR* 5070150 

310 NEXT 

320 IG$(XA>=T$ 

330 LG£CM,2)=CAS 

340 UP-UR-M : LG*:X; j)=S"Rf(i:R) 

359 PRINT'W NUMBER ^0 VQU IS' '' 'VR 

360 PRl^T J, ;-JHflT IS THEIR NUMBER " " IHPUTL^tX^) 

370 IFLO^lTHENP^r ; J" H "THEI" L9©P>T10HSfi^ 7C ^'^T! 1 )'" V^-J"J)$ :, J±*'X;Zy=LQ* 

239 F0RI = :"T04 

40@ fSznt L3^^;-:-t 

410 NLM"^Rr;-r_osc:v5> 

420 PRINT -P7INT: PRINT 
430 0PEN4.4 CMB4 

4*Z TGRI-lTOo 

453 PRINTLS^CK. I>; tJ 

4to0 NEXT 

470 FRINT#4=CL03E4 

430 X^K*1 

4^ q q - V-l (. """ 1 5 ^ '■ ^ - a -'- '?. 

5^i? B^-S^"R* ''"^ ) ' 3-^"* I Z HT* t. ?£ -I* f !?^- ;, '■ 

530 Fcs:=r3rE^: 

573 'ZT f :^ 



Bits Gt Bytes — the reoder-f nendly mogozine 



36 - BITS & BYTES - August 1 985 




I'm y 






L . "v. 



\ 




This month we have a totally different concept. We have received many 
letters from people who have been unable to obtain copies of the software 
reviewed in the User News. Your local FOUNTAIN COMMODORE stockist will 
either stock or be able to order any FOUNTAIN COMMODORE product. For 
those still unable to obtain this software, we have devoted this month's 
issue to a mail order form for COMMODORE 64 and COMMODORE 16 
software. All software is at the recommended retail price. Please ensure that 
your cheque is made out for the correct amount. 

SO LET'S TURN OVER AND START SHOPPING !! 



VOLUME 1 -ISSUE 7 



FOR THE COMMODORE 64 



ORDER 
FOR COMMODi 



CODE 


DESCRIPTION 


PRICE 


QTY 


TOTAL 


V64-0612 


Blueprint (CT) 


59.95 






V64-0613 


Lazarian (CT) 


59.95 






V64-0615 


Wizard of Wor(CT) 


59.95 






V64-0635 


International Soccer (CT) 


59.95 






V64-1961 


Star Trek (CT) 


69.95 






V64-1962 


Buck Rogers (CT) 


69.95 






V64-1963 


Congo Bongo (CT) 


69.95 






V64-1815 


Metroblitz (C) 


24.95 






V64-2015 


Metroblitz (D) 


44.95 






V64-1819 


Secret of Bastow Manor (C) 


24.95 






V64-2019 


Secret of Bastow Manor (D) 


44.95 






V64-2001 


Evolution (D) 


49.95 






V64-2014 


Moby Dick (D) 


44.95 






V64-2016 


Neoclyps (D) 


49.95 






V64-2018 


Thermonuclear Wargames (D) 


49.95 






V64-2043 


Zork I (D) 


49.95 






V64-2069 


Frogger 64 (D) 


49.95 






V64-2070 


Mummy's Tomb (D) 


49.95 






V64-2071 


Spriteman 64 (D) 


44.95 






V64-2072 


Panic 64 (D) 


44.95 






V64-2073 


China Miner (D) 


49.95 






V64-2074 


Cuddly Cubert(D) 


49.95 






V64-208Q 


Flight Simulator II (Sub Logic) (D) 


129.00 






V64-4001 


Chiller (C) 


9.95 






V64-4002 


Vegas Jackpot (C) 


9.95 






V644003 


1985 -The Day After (C) 


9.95 






V64^005 


BMX Racers (C) 


9.95 






V64^007 


Margie Carpet (C) 


9.95 






V644008 


Dark Star (C) 


9.95 






V64-4009 


Big Mac-Maintenance Man (C) 


9.95 






V644101 


Arabian Nights (C) 


19.95 






V64-4102 


Break Fever (C) 


19.95 






V644103 


TrollieWallie(C) 


19.95 






V64-4104 


Guzzler (C) 


19.95 






V644105 


Where's My Bones? (C) 


19.95 






V644106 


Heroes of Karn (C) 


19.95 






V644201 


Raid Over Moscow (C) 


29.95 






VM-4202 


Beach Head (C) 


29.95 






V64-4203 


Bruce Lee (C) 


29.95 






V64-4204 


Daley Thompson's Decathlon (C) 


29.95 






V64-4205 


Indiana Jones (C) 


29.95 






V64-4206 


Sentinel (C) 


29.95 






V64-4207 


Pole Position (C) 


29,95 






V644208 


Super Huey (C) 


29,95 






V64-1960 


Tapper (CT) 


69.95 






V64-2060 


Tapper (D) 


49,95 






V644301 


Tapper (C) 


29,95 






V64-4302 


Spy Hunter (C) 


29,95 






V64-1964 


Zaxxon (CT) 


69.95 







CODE 



V64-4304 
V64-6001 
V64-5002 
V64-5003 
V64-5004 
V64-5006 
V64-6001 
V64-6010 
V64^6011 
V64-6012 
V64-0033 
V64-0034 
V64-0150 
V64-0151 
V64-0153 
V64-0152 
V64-0154 
V64-1850 
V64-1851 
V64-1852 
V64-1853 
V64-1854 
V64-1855 
V64-1856 
V64-1857 
V64-1858 

V64-1859 
V64-1860 
V64-1861 
V64-1862 
V64-1863 
V64-1864 
V64-1865 
V64-1866 
V64-1867 
V64-1868 
V64-0200 
V64-0201 
V64-0202 
V64-3050 
V64-3055 
V64-3060 
V644216 
V64-7001 
V64-7011 
V64-7002 
V64-7012 
V64-7003 
V64-7013 



DESCRIPTION 



Zaxxon (C) 
Caesars Travels (C) 
First Steps with Mr Men (C) 
Go Sprite (C) 
Games Creator (C) 
Spitfire 40 (C) 
Colourtone Musical Keykxx 
Musicalc 1 (D) 
Musicalc 2 (D) 
Musicalc 3 (D) 
Music Composer (CT) 
Typing Tutor (C) 
Gortek & The Microchips (C 
Intro To Basic Part 1 (C) 
Intro To Basic Part 1 (D) 
Intro To Basic Part 2(C) 
Intro To Basic Part 2(D) 
M01 Young Maths (C) 
M02 Multiplication (C) 
M03 Add, Subtract, Numbs 
M04 Addition & Subtractioi 
M05 Division (C) 
M06 Multiplication (C) 
M10Shipmaths(C) 
M1 1 Race to the Moon (C 
M12 Invadergraph & 
Co-ordinates (C) 
3KM-30 Swerve Maths (C) 
M-IOOSupermind(C) 
L01 Spellstart (C) 
L02 Spellstart (C) 
L03 Spellstart (C) 
L04 Spellstart (C) 
L10 Rocket Spell (C) 
L1 1 Anagram Fun (C) 
L1 2 Anagram Fun (C) 
L-100 Word File Maker (C) 
Easy Script (D) 
Easy Spell (D) 
Easy Mail (D) 

Cafe Result Advanced (D) 
Calc Result Easy (D) 
Super Base 64 
The Manager — Database 
Bank Manager (C) 
Bank Manager (D) 
Expense Manager (C) 
Expense Manager (D) 
Budget (C) 
Budget (D) 



C = Cassette D = Diskette CT = Cartridge 



FORM 

IRE SOFTWARE 



(D) 



3(C) 



PRICE 

2995 
29.95 

29.95 
29.95 
29.95 
29.95 
99.95 
69.95 
49.95 
49.95 
59.95 
24.95 
49,95 
49,95 
49,00 
49,95 
49.00 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 
12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12.95 

12,95 

12,95 

12,95 

12.95 

121.50 

95.00 

95.00 

352,00 

199.00 

249,00 

121.50 

29.95 

34.95 

29.95 

34.95 

29.95 

34.95 



QTY 



TOTAL 



CODE 


DESCRIPTION 


PRICE 


QTY 


TOTAL 


V64-7004 


Diary (C) 


29.95 






V64-7014 


Diary (D) 


34.95 






V64-7005 


Letter Writer (C) 


29.95 






V64-7015 


Letter Writer (D) 


34.95 






V64-7006 


Bill Payer (C) 


29.95 






V64-7016 


Bill Payer (D) 


34.95 






V64O101 


Assembler 64(D) 


109.95 






V64-0102 


Logo 64 (D) 


109.95 






V64-0106 


Simons Baste (CT) 


149.00 







FOR THE COMMODORE 16 



V160151 
V164002 
V16-4220 
V1M221 


Intro to Programming (C) 
Vegas Jackpot (C) 
Air Combat Emulator (C) 
Escape From Pulsar 7 (C) 


49.95 

9.95 

29.95 

29.95 







CHEQUE/MONEY ORDER FOR TOTAL $ 

ENCLOSED 

PLEASE CHARGE MY BANKCARD Q VISACARD □ 
CARD NUMBER 



EXPIRY DATE SIGNATURE 

SEND TO: FOUNTAIN MAIL ORDER 
BOX 5029 
AUCKLAND 

NAME 



ADDRESS 



PHONE 



ALTHOUGH DELIVERY SHOULD BE WITHIN FOURTEEN DAYS PLEASE 
ALLOW TWENTY EIGHT DAYS. 



mmmmiiiMmmB 



GAMES 
WITHOUT END 



" 



Mtf* ^ 



CCI Magazine, 
November 1984 










Personal Computer News, 10 November 1984 



■p/09 



***" 



so 



£*{*# 



CCI Magazine, December 1984 



yy.X-c- _ ':-»"> ... •■•■:■:■:■:■:->:-:-:■:■:-.-.-:-:-:■:-:-:-.-. .-^■.■;-;-iVii;".-.-.-A%'.-, 



ZX81 



Moon Patrol 

By Bruce Priddy 

This excellent program, for use with 
16K, is a fast version of the well-known 
coin arcade game where you drive a 
moon buggy over the lunar surface while 
avoiding craters, mines, and crevasses. 
The keys to use are A for brake, S for 
thrust, and J for jump. 

jO LET C =12 
4.D 

50 
60 
70 

100 



LET f-C-O 

LET ZK1LL=X 

LET E=l 

LET LIVE, n-3 

or N*e TO 10 

PRIHT PT 




; AT 
14-0 

ISO 



TC 

0>S; 

-A- 



i-3 *_ =i 

A* i TO 32 J 

OR A* f 1 1 I -: » "lU) 



TO » + A 5 '. Bi 

THEM GOTO 510 
AND B : 5 THEM 



AWE' Pil Th 



130 PRINT 

18,5; H 'B~" 

LET P.* !3 

PR INT AT 

PRINT AT 

IP AS I BJ 
THEN GOTO ?00 
=20 LET C=C+1 
230 LET *$=A£ (O+l 
24.0 IT XN*EVS^"J" 
250 IF IHK^y$= 1, 5 1 ' 
LET B-S + l 
260 IF jHKtVSs ■■«■■ 

L IIo b i?"c> --LEM AS THEN GOTO 20OG 

500 GOTO =:lO ^_^^^^_ 

520 PR - Sr JIm£ T i 2t!,ii, 'iMM^^H",AT 

5 30 r5 c M = 1 

S4.0 PRINT AT £1,0; AS I TO 32) 

550 LET A$=A*iB+l TO >+A*iB) 

560 LET G=-C*l 

5 70 NEXT N ^^_^^_ 

5S0 PAI NT AT l?,t;"^^^H",flT 
IS , 6 ; "MT ^BIBIB" i I^T 19,6, "F ■ 

ss3= pAimt ~t ai^B i BM < TO 

5*0 IF Hi ■ l^> ' :■ " 

" Ti-ii^M sot; 

^00 iiui j *= -vi 
©00 PA I NT h r l ? , 

<3©5 PAINT AT . & ; "S9SS = B" - ^O 

910 FOR Nil TO 100 

920 NEXT N 

©2 1 LET LI'JEjsLIUES-I 

©22 IF LIUES--0 THEN GOTO 3000 

930 GOTO ISO 

9^9 STOP 

L000 J^ET „fl 



' OR R» t IS' * 




1120 NEXT 

113© PRINT AT *. t S; 



Innovative award 

ICL has won the Queen's award 
for technological achievement for 
innovative work in developing the 
CAFS-ISP Information search 
processor. 

CAFS-ISP (content addressable 
file store-information search pro- 
cessor) enables data files held on ICL 
computer systems to be searched 
and the information retrieved up to 
100 times faster than possible with 
other computers. 

Because it is incorporated in the 
disk sub-system, utilisation of the 
main computer processor for file 
searching is approximately 90% 
lower with ICL computers than with 
others, freeing it for other tasks. 



.■.^v.^^:.^^^^x<■:■:■L■^xw^:-^^^^^:■:■:':':v•:■^ 

.1 - 

1140 PRINT AT 



PROGRAMS 




Ef. 5 RHV KEY' TO ;ThCT 



1190 PRINT AT 2,0.6*1 TO 32J 
1200 LET B*-iBSf£ TO ?+B*CU 
1210 IF INKEYi = " " THEN GOTO H90 
RET'JRN .'■ : 

LET SKILLsSK.ILL + l 

IF 5*1 ILL =1 THEN LETT R 



let sk. Ill = 



1320 
S013U 

£0£S 




2100 GOTO 100 

3000 FOR !i=X TO 4 

3020 PRINT RT 10,10, 
hT iS, lGi "G«m£ DOER 1 * 

OOie NEXT n . 

?O20 PRINT h7 0.5. i&l*m=B 

301^0 FOR '-} = 1 TO E0 

30*0 NEXT N 

3050 PRINT PT 3.0; 

3O&0 RUN 



COMMODORE 64 OWNERS! 

Now you can write BBC 
programs on you Commodore 64 

with 

BBC EMULATOR 
SOFTWARE 



SHADO 



If you own a Commodore 64, Aztec's 'BES' software 

means you can write full programs in BBC-style BASIC... 

without a BBC computer! 

School children can do their homework on a Commodore 

64 and enter the same programme into the school's BBC 

micro — without having to change anything. 

Your can develop BBC BASIC software, too. (There's a 

built in error-checker that guarantees the programme will 

run properly, and a clear, comprehensive instruction 

manual). 

Use Aztec BES to open up new doors for both you and 

your children! 



I Name _ 
Address 



Please send me . 



_Shado BBC 



Emulator Software Cassette at 
$129.00 each 

I enclose my cheque/money 

order for $ 



I Phone No 



Visa. Bankcard. Amex, Diners 
Welcome 



Send to: 



SUPATECH ELECTRONICS 

430 Mt Eden Rd, Mt Eden, Auckland 
Ph 605-216 or 602-123 
Dealer enquiries welcome. 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 41 



PROGRAMS 

SPECTRUM 



W-jMWWWMWttc*: : r-x-:-: .»:< < : x-x ::::-:->: .:-:-:-: :•:•:-:->:■»:-:-:■:■: :•: 



Four in a row 

By David Stevens 

The aim of this two-player game is 
to be the first to produce a row of 
four markers, on a vertical grid 
where each marker will drop to the 
lowest possible position. Players 
take turns to press a number 
corresponding to the column down 
which they wish their marker to be 
dropped. The computer takes several 
seconds between each turn to check 
whether anybody has won. Four-in- 
a-row works on the 16K and 48K 
Spectrum. 

The following notation is used to 
indicate graphics characters: 
Characters which are to be entered 
in graphics mode are surrounded by 

SPECTRAVIDEQ 

Draw and Paint 

By Roger Browning 

This is a picture-drawing program for 
the 318 or 328. It allows you to draw 
lines in any colour, wipe lines, and paint 
shapes, RUN the program, and enter the 
colour you wish to use. If it is a single- 
digit number, press the space bar. Then 
use D for down, U for up, R for right, and 
L for left. 

If you want to alter the colour, press C 
and then type the number. To clear the 
screen, press C and then 1. To wipe a 
line, press W and then move over the 
line. To paint an area, move into the 
centre of the area and press W and then 
P. 

70 SCREEN1!X=10:Z=5 
80 G0SUB240 
90 PSET(XjZ) ,F 
lOO A*=INKEY* 
110 IF AS=-R w THENX=X + Jl 
120 IF A*="L"THENX=X-1 
130 IF A*="D"THENZ=Z+1 
140 IF A*="U U THENZ=Z-1 
150 IF A¥="C "THENAR* ":G0SUB240 
160 IF A*= M W»THEN200 
170 IF A*="P n THENPAlNT(X,Z> ? F 
ISO IF S=lTHEN20O 
190 G0T090 
2O0 S=l 

2iO IF A$= H 5"THENS=0 
220 PRESET (X,Z> 
230 GOTO 100 
240 A$=INKEYS 

250 IF A*="L B THENCLS: RETURN 
260 B=*VAL(AS> 
2"7Q IF A$=" "THEN240 
2SO A*="" 
290 A*=INKEY* 

300 IF A*=" "THENF=B:G0T09O 
310 C=VALCA$) 
320 IF C<0 OR O5THEN290 
330 IF AS=" M THEN290 
340 IF B<1 OR B>1THEN240 
350 D=B*10 
360 F=D+C 
370 RETURN 
42 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



asterisks! such as line 160, where 
*ABC* indicates the user-defined 
graphics characters, A, B, and C, are 
to be entered. 

Pre-defined block graphics char- 
acters are preceded by J g\ such as 
line 1 50, where *g5* indicates that 
the graphics character on the 5 key 
is to be entered. 



Block graphics characters which 
require CAPS SHIFT to be pressed, 
are indicated by 'sg', such as line 
1 50, where the character indicated 
by *sg5* is the opposite of that 
shown previously in the line. 
Characters which are to be entered 
in INVERSE VIDEO mode are 
indicated by 'i', such as line 320. 

iO DIM B(4Jt DIM Cf4H DIM D<4>i DIM EC4>i DIM F<45l DIM &<4>il RESTORE < FOR 
N-i TO 4i READ B<N> ,C<N> , DCN> ,E<N> ,F<N> ,GCN> i NEXT Ni FOR N-UBR "A" TO USR "H"+7 
i READ Xi POKE N,Xi NEXT Ni READ W1,W2 

20 DATA 3,1,7,3,1,43,21,7,1,21,7,7,21,7,1,24,8,4,21,7,-1,18,6.1 

30 DATA 0,0,0,1,7,13,15,31 

40 DATA 0,0,124,233,235,255,233,253 

BO DATA 0,0,0,128,224,240,240,243 

60 DATA 31,63,63,63,63,63,63,31 

70 DATA 248,232,232,252,252,252,252,248 

SO DATA 31,13,13,7,1,0,0,0 

90 DATA 255,255,253,255,235,126,0,0 

100 DATA 248, 240,240, 224, 12B, 0,0,0, 0,0 

110 GO SUB 630i LET PLBT-1NT <RND*1>+1 

120 DIM Z(49)i LET PLST-<PLST-2)+2*<PLBT»l> i LET PL-PLST 

130 BORDER 7i PAPER 7i INK Oi CL8 

140 FOR N«3 TO 21 STEP 3i PRINT AT 0,N+4|N/3i FOR 1-6 TO 24 STEP 3 

ISO FOR X-N-2 TD Ni PRINT AT X,3| PAPER 7| INK 5| n *o5*"|AT X,27| w «ag5** t NEXT X 

160 PRINT AT N-2,I| PAPER 6, INK Of "»ABC*"|AT N-l,Zj "*D«gBE»"|AT N,Z|"*FGH*» 

170 NEXT Zi NEXT N 

180 PRINT PAPER 7| INK 5|AT 20, 4| -*A«gB* H l AT 20,27| "*agSCI"|AT 21, 3 f »*A*gBagS* 
H |AT 21,27|-**agBagBC*" 

190 BRIGHT li PAPER 4l INK Oi FOR N-2 TO 30 STEP 28i PRINT AT 3,N|"P»|AT 6,N|"L 
-|AT 7,N|"A"|AT B,Nr N Y"|AT 9,N|*E"|AT lO t N f "R"|AT 11, N|" " i NEXT Ni PRINT AT 12, 
21-O-iAT 13,2|"fi"fAT 14,2, «E H | AT 12,30| *T-|AT 13,30j *W»i AT 14,30|**0"i GO SUB 730 

210 PRINT PAPER 4, INK 0|AT 16, 1 | **#ON*t AT 16,29| -WON"| AT 1B,2 9 W1|AT 1B,30|W2i 
BRIGHT O 

220 LET D-CODE INKEVSi LET D-D-48 

230 IF D<1 Oft D>7 THEN GO TO 220 

240 IF Z<D)00 THEN GO TO 220 

250 FOR N-D+7 TO D+42 STEP 7 

260 IF ZtNXM> THEN LET N-N-7i LET Z<N>-PLi GO TO 30O 

270 NEXT N 

2BO LET N-D+42 

290 LET Z<N>^PL 

300 LET N-N-. 1 

310 LET N-fINT (N/7JH3 

320 PRINT INK PL|AT N+1,D*3+3| PAPER 6|-*ABC*"|AT N+2, Dl3+3| *M»-i <"*i 1*" AND 
PL-Hil"*!*** 1 AND PL«2>|"*E*"|AT N+3,D*3+3| **FGH<- 

330 GO SUB 420 

340 IF PL-2 THEN LET PL-ll BO TO 360 

330 LET PL-2 

360 GO SUB 750 

41Q GO TO 220 

420 FOR Z-l TO 4 

430 LET B*Ol LET R-0 

440 LET A-l 

450 IF Z-4 THEN LET A«7 

460 LET T-A 

470 FOR N-T TO T+B(Z> STEP C(Z> 

480 IF N-T+BCZ) THEN LET A-A+DCZ) 

490 FOR M-N TO N+EU) STEP F(Z> 

500 IF 7<N>-1 THEN LET B-B+l 

510 IF ZCM)-2 THEN LET R-R+l 

520 NEXT M 

530 IF R-4 OR B-4 THEN GO TO 390 

540 LET B-O 

330 LET R-0 

560 NEXT N 

370 IF CA<-G(Z> AND Z<-3) OR <A>«3 AND Z-4) THEN GO TO 460 

390 NEXT Z> RETURN 

590 IF B-4 THEN LET MIN-1 

600 IF R-4THEN LET WIN-2 

610 BORDER 6t PAPER 6i INK Oi CLS i PRINT TAB 4| BRIGHT 1| "PLAYER "|WtN,« IS TH 
E WINNER" | AT 2,2|"HIT ENTER FOR ANOTHER GAME" 

620 IF WIN-1 THEN LET Wl-Wl+1 

630 IF WIN-2 THEN LET W2-H2+1 

640 GO SUB 690i GO TO 120 

650 BORDER li PAPER 0« CLS i INK 6 

660 INVERSE li PRINT AT 0, 11| "4-IN-A-ROWi AT 2,6|"1984 DAVID STEVENS'" ' " I INV 
ERSE O 

670 PRINT "Maka m row of 4 coanttri on th« grid horizontally, vertically or d 
i agonal ly."'* "Praia th« column nuato«r U-7> In which you wish to placa your cd 
untar . M 

6SO PRINT PAPER 4| INK OfAT 20,3| -PRESS ENTER TD CONTINUE" 

690 LET D-CODE INKEY«I IF D<>13 THEN GO TO 690 

700 RETURN 

730 BRIGHT tPL-l>i FLASH <FL-1>1 PRINT PAPER 7| INK 1|AT 4, 1|" M t AT 15, 1 1 *• 

"I FOR N-«5 TO 14i PRINT PAPER 7| INK HAT N,l|" "|AT N,3t" "t NEXT Nl FLASH O 

760 BRIGHT <PL-2) i FLASH <PL-2>i PRINT PAPER 7» INK 2|AT 4,29|** * t AT 15,29^ 
"i FOR N-3 TO 141 PRINT PAPER 7| INK 2|AT N,29|- *|AT N,3l|" "i NEXT Ni FLAB 
H Oi BRIGHT O 

BOO RETURN 



PROGRAMS 



VIC 20 



Space Ranger 

By R.M. Doull 

This is an adventure game which fits 
into the unexpanded VIC. Because of 
memory constraints, the program should 
be entered exactly as listed without 
adding any spaces or expanding 
abbreviations. 

You are a space ranger who has been 
captured by rebels intending to invade 
Earth. You are being held prisoner in a 
cell on the moon, and must try to escape, 
find the rebels' plans, and return to 
Earth. 

Instructions can be entered in the 
format of verb and noun, apart from 
directions which are entered as N,S,E,W, 
and 11,0. Ten verbs are available: 
Examine, Get, Drop, Shoot, Lift, Hit, Oil, 
Fill, Use, Give. The nouns to use will be 
obvious from the game. 

1 PQKE3ee79, 26: PRINT ££_ ; ; 0=16: N = 19: H = 10 
i [*= UDNEWS :DiriE*CH).BKNJ.DMN3.LMN), 

OfH],LitN3 

2 FORI=1TOH.REAPEMI 3: NEXT: FORI =1 TON: REA 
DBiCI ]; NEXT; FOR! =0TO|Mi*£ADL*tl ),D*CIJ 

3 NEXT ^0RI=1 TON ;REP,DL*U ):NEXT:K*= GK" 
a G=l si_=0; PRINT RJ AM AT THE : - " ; PRlNTL*t 
03 

5 PRINT RJ CAN SEE ; - ": FOR] =iTQNUFL*n 3 
^OTHENPRINTB*C n; : "i :i_*L+i:G=0 

6 IFLTHENPRINT^L-e 

7 NEXT: IFGTHF.NPRINT "NOT HUCH 

3 PRINT"RJ CAN GQ: -£_":= FORI MTOLENtD* CO 3 
7JpRlNTf1ID*CQ*C03,IJ 3; < ;:NEXT:PRINT 

9 IFU-0THENPRINT NOWHERE ; 

10 PRINT: PRINTEJ CARRY: -": i_=H= FORI=1TOH 
:JFC^CI J=ITHENG0SUB15 

11 NEXT;PRlNT: PRINT RWHAT NOW i TNPUT04 

12 PRINT"sJ':=P = -l=FORI=lTOLENC0i)! IFMID1 
rOi,I,l]z THENP"! 

13 NEXT:TFPOTHENGQSUBl7iG0SUB19sG0T04 
H U*=LEFT*C0* > 3]:U*=RIGHTtC0*.LENC0*>P 
i:GOSUB26i60SUB19:&0T04 

15 R=LEN£B4( I n+2:L-L+R: IFL>2LTHENFRINT: 

L=R 

15 PRINTB*CI3J '■ ' : ■ RETURN 

17 K=0: U*=0*: FORI =1 TOG; IFU*;=nlD*C 1* , 1 , 1 ) 

THENK=] 

13 NEXT: IFK^ITHENGOSUBSS: RETURN 

19 IFa=BANDX=6ANDCKr2X)lTHENpRlNT-HE SH 
DOTS Y0U-.G0TO76 

20 IFA^lANDCO^NQRO = lS3AN0C J /-f3K>lTHENPRl 
NT "NO SPACESUIT"-G0T0?6 

21 IFfWfMK0=N0ft0=lBlfiN0t>r6K>nHENPfU 
NT "NO AIRTANK 1 ". &OT070 

22 IF0M7flND(>C9 KM THENPR I NT 'SECRET PL A 
NS NOT HELD" 

23 IF0 = 17ftNDCxr9) = irHF.NPRINT ' tQSLUCONGRB 
TULftTlONS OJOU WON" 'END 

2* 1FZ=2THE,NB--B-U2=3 

25 RETURN 

26 K1=0:C=0iFORI = ITOH:TFy*sE*CnTHENKl=l 

!X = I 

2 ? NEXT : POR i * 1 TON : I F U* =3* C I J T HENC = 1 ; W = 1 
29 NEXT: JFK t =0ORC=0THt*NPft!NT 'NOT CINDERS T 
000 ° RETURN 

29 I FX = 30RX =4 TBENGGSUB70. RETURN 

30 IFX = inNDOM6PiNDT^0ANPUI = l 1 THENPRINF'KE. 
V BEHIND MIRROR""T = liL^C 1 :=16:RETURN 

31 I FX-3TRTNG0SUB44.: RETURN 

32 IFX-6ANUWM2ANDC*(2^1AND0^BiHLNPRINT 
HE ' S DC AD " - = 1 ■ 0* C 9 ~J~- " NS " . RETURN 

33 IFX=2THENGOSUS49-^FTURN 

34 IFX=7ANDU-14ANDZ-IAND0 = )ITHENPRINT ,, HE 
nOUES Dit 13!- SUE . £=2>C*f 7 3^-1 :B"3-l;RE 
TURN 

35 IFX-bfiNDiJl^"WlNE 'AN0O-3ftNDC*C? J* I THEN 
G.0SUB42, RETURN 

36 lFK-eftHDW*= "S0TTLF.''AND0=2ANDQMriTCC*r 
■?5-nNFNPRINTK*-Z = V:S*r73--OIL' -RETURN 

37 IFX = 5flNDW=NANDa-lBANDF=i3ANCM>.i F 4 >-|THL". 
NPRINf-HE'S DEA0"-F*i;D*ria3 = -TUl RETURN 
39 [FX= , iORX56THFN40 

39 PRINT Cf^'T DO THnT" RETURN 

«0 [FO-^ORCi 'MHiNPRINT ^ PATROL HEARS YD 



41 PRINTKi: RETURN 

42 PRINT HE FALLS DOWN DRUNK" !B*C7 J="BOT 
TLE N !5=i.sQ=.I 

43 CM?3=0:LK(71=9:REnJRN 

*4 IFU=lANuO=16flNDCx(l 3-LANDU-0THENPRJNT 
<*:U = UD*CO)'N J : RETURN 

45 IFW*5AND0= 1 2ANDCKC5 D = 1 THENPR I NTK* s D* [ 
0] = " L NSE": RETURN 

46 I FU =HANDO = 1 4ANDC* C H J* 1 ANDLx C 3 ) -- i THEN 
PRINT"OK .FOUND SECRET PLANS" : L*C3 )-14:RE 
TURN 

4 7 ] F U =8f)ND0 = 1 5 ANDCK C 8 ) = 1 T HENPR I NTK* : Di C 

15)="DS :A=l 

AB RETURN 

*9 IFQ=16ANDW=11 THENPR INT HAS HJNGES 

50 IF0=SANDU=12ANDD=1THENPRINT 'HAS PISTO 
l":LXC4^8:D-2 

51 IF0 = 2ANDU = 13THENPRINT-ITS HEAUY"' 

52 IF0 = 1ANDLJ = MTHENPRINT-'HE I S RUSTY' 1 

53 IFD=9ANDW^15ANDS-1THENPR]NT HAS SPANN 
ER-:S-2:LxC8D=9 

54 IFO=15ANDU1-I8ANDA-0THENPR]NT "BOLT JAM 
MED" 

■55 IFO^HANDUhlGTHENPRlNriT'S STUCK 

56 lFO = 9flNDU = 15ANDS=0THENPRlNT' , HE , S THIR 

57 I FO-HANDW 1 7AN0L'^CH J ~- 1 THENPR I NT "FOUN 
D CROWBAR" :l*(H3=H 

5B RETURN 

59 K=0:n™LENCDiCO3)iPORI-lTOf1; lFU*=f1ID*C 

0*C0],I,1 3THENK-1 



60 NEXT; IFK^=0TNENPRINT"NO WAY": RETURN 

6 1 I FU* = "U AHOO = 4 THE NU* = " E 

62 IFU*= D AND0=5THENUt= W ' 

63 1FU*= U ANQ0=11THENU$^ S 

54 IFU* = "0/ AND0=15THENU* = "N" 
Sb IFU*="E"THEN0=O+l 

66 IFU* = "WTHEND=0-1 

67 IFU*--:"S"ThEN0=0+4 

68 IFUi- ,, N ,, THFN0=0-4 

69 RETURN 

^0 IFW>HTHENPRINTI CAN'T " : RETURN 

71 IF^=4ANOC^fiJl--0THENPRlNT NOT CARRIED" 
-RETURN 

72 lFX=4THENC^rw )=Q: 3-B-l : L^tW )'0: RETURN 

73 IFB>5rHENPR!NT TOO MUCH -RETURN 

74 IFLxCWJOOTHENPRJNT-WHAT "MJi: RETURN 

75 C^CU)^I .L*fi-d]=-2:B=B*l : RETURN 

76 PRINT^YOU ARE KILLED": END 

77 DATALIF P EXA .GET ,OR0 .SHO ,HIT .OIL ,PIL,U 
SE *GJ U .KEY , STOOL .SPACFSU ! T .PI STOL , CARO 

70 DATAA1RTANK .WINE .SPANNER , PLANS p CROWBA 
R , m I RROR . GUARD 1 1 L DRUtf , ROBO T .PLUMBER , BUN 
K H B£D 

73 AT AA I RLOCK , OFF I CER , 9T0RE P E . i ilB , SF . WO 

RKSHOF , W .K I TCHEN . S , ST A 1 RS , US . F Yt R 

80 DATAONE .LOUNGE .SUE .HALL ,NSW r CJUARDHOUS 

E .S>BATHROOn*t' .BCDROOn .NSU .STAIRS , UN 

31 OATACORRIDOR ,NSE -CUPBOARD .W .BUNKROOM . 

N F CHANCING ROOM. D» PRISON CELI SPACESHIP 

■ E 

82 DATAOUTSI0E,F.AIRI OCK .NU.-I . I§pt3 : *-i i 
1 .0.3.-1 , -1,-1. 16.8. 2. 1.9. I*. 10, 15J© 



ATARI 



DOS Plus 



By Steven Kendall 

This is an improved disk operating 
system for any Atari, ft simplifies DOS 
procedures, and handles loading, saving, 
erasing, protecting, unprotecting, and 
renaming* 

For the program to work, there must 
be some sort of DOS already in memory 
(load for example NASA DOS, go into 
BASIC and run DOSPIus). Since the 
program is in BASIC, it can be easily 
modified to suitihe user. 

Note that lines 10, 40, 100, 200 and 
1010 contain the clear screen character 
between the "empty" quotes. 

3 GRAPHICS 0-OT1 E*U00]iF*Un 

4 POKE 7ie,0:SETCDLOR 1,0,14 

5 DIM CATU10B0] 

10 PRINT " ":OPEN »2.»B,0."D:*.* ,l :COU=e 
H PDKE ?52,i:P0KE 712x14 
]5? :^ :? :7 ;0 -9 ■? 

20 PRINT ,l Enhanced OdePLUS 1.0" 

30 PRINT " So It Rrts 1985" 

*0 FOR DE-1 TO 2000 -NEXT DE:PQKE 752,0 !P 

RINT " " :POKE ?12,0 

50 INPUT «2 SCAT*: TRAP 75 

55 CDU-COU+1 

56 IF COU^IB THEN GOSUB 1000 
5? IF C0U=1S*2 THEN GOSUB J 000 
58 IF C0Lf=18*3 THEN GOSUB 1000 
S0 PRINT " " iCflT* 

70 GOTO 50 

75 POSITION 2 3 20:PRINT "- 

30 POSITION 2 1 21=PRINT "START tn load, 

PTION Id exit, SELECT to handler.'' 

85 CLOSE «2 

30 IF PEEKCS3279]=6 THEN 110 

100 IF PEEKC532793=3 THEN 7 " " ;£NQ 

L01 IF PEEK C 53279) =5 THEN 200 

105 GOTO 99 



110 PRINT Tl Lespec "; 

120 INPUT E$ 

130 IF E*Cl,23 = N D: ,r OR E*C 1 , 3) = "D1 : hp THE 

N 150 

135 Ft="D:" 

140 F*CLENCF*)i-n=E* 

I50 F*^E*:LOAD F$ 

I 60 ENO 

ISO REM DOS PLUS DISK HANDLER 

200 PRINT HH " 

205 COU=0 

210 PRINT "LI IERASE: t23PROTECT, C33UNFROT 

EOT, t4)RENRflE,t:5)EXIT TO DOSPLUS. " 

230 INPUT CD 

240 IF CD^l THEN Ct1D=33 sPRINT "D:Ul.ext 

250 IF C0=2 THEN CMD=35:PRINT "DMll.ext 

250 IF C0=3 THEN Cn0=36 :PRINT "D^U.ext 

270 IF CD=4 THEN CMD=32 :PRINT '"D:oLd,rteu 

280 IF CD-5 THEN PRINT " " =OFEN 1*2,6,0, 

r *0 : s*i**jijBtJTO 50 

230 PRINT : PRINT "FlLESPEC" J : INPUT F* 

300 7 £? "XIO " iCMD;" i, ^^i\ ,t 

310 XIO CMD,*l,0»0iF* 

320 ? :? "XIO ";CMD;" "^*j" EXECUTED." 

330 FOR DE^l TO 1000: NEXT DE 

340 GOTO 200 

1000 PRINT "Press SELECT for more"; 

1002 IF PEEK C 532790 <> 5 THEN 1002 

1010 PRINT : RETURN 



Buy computer 
boohs today 



■ 



BITS St BYTES - AugviSl 1985 - 43 



PROGRAMS 

COMMODORE 64 



^WtfA^:*£-^^:■:■K*w>>x-:-^:■:*^ 

COMMODORE 64 



Pie Man 



By Robert Boere 

In Pie Man, you must try to catch 
falling pies with your pie van. You use 
the joystick to move the van. The 
variable Y1 in line 30020 can be altered 
to make the game harder or easier* 

2 REMi**LIN£;30020 f LOWER NUnBER=EASLER . 

HIGHER NUflBER 'HARDER 

IB PRINT'S;' iNO=i:SC=-0 

20 POKE532e0,6-POKE532Sl .0 

30 PR[Nr-QQ±_ PIE I1AN/ 

40 PR I NT" QH BY RGB 6 MARK BOERE 



50 PRJNT"QOQ!^ 
NTROL THE 
60 PRINT & 

70 PRINT Q. 

F5." 

80 PRlNT"QflaQl_ 

START lT 
30 GET At: TFA40 



USE THE JOYSTICK TO CO 

PIE UAN. mO TRY 

TO CATCH THE FALLING PI 

RPRESS SPACE BAR TO 



THEN30 

100 PRINT sJ: POKE 532 01 ,0 
105 PQKE53265.PEEKC53265 JAND23S 
1 10 FOR^-L86^tTO2023 
120 P0KFrf,22<nPQKEX*532?2,5 
13B NEXT 
132 P0KF5326S,PEEKC532a5.1OR16 

135 U=5324e:POKE204 2.l3 

1 36 FQRN=0TQ62- READER F0K.EQ32*N,G: NEK7 
148 POKE2041 K 14;PaRN=0rO62:RE^OPt:POKEe9S 
-n p A;nEXT 

5000 DATA0 ± h 0. 0,0,0,0,0 ,0,0 ,0.0. 0,0 .0,0 
,0.0.127,255.240,127,254, 16 
5010 DFlTflU 3,70. 16. 117. 94, 16 .113. 78,16,1 
13,95,254,119,71 ,254 

5020 DATA J 77 , 255 , 254 , 1 27 , 255 ,254 . 1 27 , 255 
,252.7 ,0,55 
5030 DAT A0, 0,0. 0,0. 0,0. 0.0,0,0,0 



5040 DAT A0, 0,0, 0,0.8.0,0, 0.0. 0.0, 0,0. 0-0 
.0,0, 0.6. 0,0. 233. 0,1. 15. 1 28, 2,0, 64, 15 
5050 DATA255,224 .^,0.64 ,2,0,126,1 .255,0, 
0,0. 0.0. 0,0, 0.0. 0,0. 0*0. 0.0. 0,0, 0,0,0.0 

5060 DATA0 

1 0000 I FNO - 1 T HF NGOSue25000 : GOSU0300B0 1 p 

*LU*?l ,6:f»OKEU*3.Vi:P0KEyt2,Xi 

15000 Yj=Y1*ls TFYt >V33THENGOSUB&0000:GGS 

Jt(30000: G0TQ1 5000 

15010 GOSU&50000 

15020 IFX>2^THFNX-254 

i5030 IFX<85IHL'NX=B5 

L 5048 P0KEUt5. v : p 0KEUt3,vi!PC)KEUt^ ,K;POK 

F'Ji2,Xl 

15050 GOT 01 5000 

25000 \=2Q&- <=!&& 

25010 PQtfPJ+21 ,4i.P0KE(Jt5,Y:POKEyt4 ,H 

25020 RETURN 

30000 X1=mrtRNDC0^254OrI 

30010 IFXK90THES30000 

30020 VI =100 

30100 RETURN 

500S0 I U-PECKC 56320 "ii»OKE53270 ,0 

50005 J-J.-.I5-UUAND15) 

50010 IFJU = 4THENX=>!-l:REriJRN 

50020 IF-JUsBTHENX.sX+t;,(?EtUft-H 

50090 RETURN 

55000 PRINT %1 F ORX-ia64TO2023:POKE^,22i 

• P0ktX>53272.,S 

5^010 NCKT:RETURn 

60030 I F P EEK 1 5327S 3 O6THEN61000 



60010 SCiSC*ie: PRINT SflQ. 

6001*5 POKE53270,0 

B0020 RETURN 

51000 POKE J* 21 ,0iPRlNT" S_ 

61005 PRINT" YOU GOT ;SC 

61010 PRINT"' DO YOU vJANT TO PLAf AGAIN? 

61020 GET A* 

6103$ lfftt = ■"THFNNO-liGaSUB55000:SC-0i& 

oro 10000 

51343 I^A-tO N TKFN6I020 
id 1050 END 



UFO 

By C. Wright 

This routine simulates the sound of a 
UFO landing. 



10 REM UFO LANDING - C. WRIGHT 

20 S-54272 

30 FOR 1-0 TO 22: POKE S*I,0:NEXT 

40 POKE S*24,15 

50 POKE S'^SO 

60 POKE S ♦6,243; POKE S+3,7 

70 FOR [ = 50 TO 17 STEP -It POKE S*4,65 

80 POKE S*l,T;FOR W TO 200: NEXT 

90 POKE S*4,64:FGR 1=1 TO 50:NEXT 

100 GET A$:IE A$- FHEN NEXT 



No JX - yet 

IBM has no immediate plans for a 
New Zealand release of its JX 
personal computer. There has been 
speculation on its local release since 
one appeared at a dealer show in 
Gueenstown. 

The JX is a cut-down version of 
the IBM PC, developed in Japan. 
When — and if — the machine is sold 
here, it could be in a modified form. 



When G.ST arrives next year, 
two things can happen to 
your business 



Increased paperwork 
More form filling 
Staff re-training 
More book-keeping 
High compliance costs 




(MLS) 



cUoaETDDOD 3 



the software answer to & S. T 



i 



Designed in N.Z. specifically for the first time user, MLS Junior is a 
complete accounting system. You can raise tax- declared invoices, 
control your stock, supplier payments and debtors, and much more. 
Best of all you can grow with MLS. As your business expands, Junior 
can be upgraded to the MLS Professional series or even Multi-user! 

YOU'LL NEVER OUTGROW MLS 

Of course to enjoy the benefits of Junior you don't have to wait for G.ST. 
- call your local dealer today. 

M L SYSTEMS, RO. BOX 83-091, EDMONTON, AUCKLAND, PH- AK 810-9759 




44 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 




Pick the AWA Daisy Wheel Printer that suits you. 

Who said Flower Power is dead? Discover the attributes The AWA SP830 



of a Daisy Wheel Primer from AWA. 

The AWA RP1200 

The RPI200 is a low-cost, double-Daisywheel printer 

with the attributes; facilities and quality of a higher<ost, 

high-speed device. 

The AWA RP1300 and RP16Q0 

These two double-Daisywheel correspondence printers 

offer high-speed and medium-speed options to match 

customer requirements. 



Still the fastest Daisy Wheel in use. 

Accurate and very high-speed printing is assured through 

use of two high-speed servo motors, a servo-controlled 

position sensor^ and multi-microprocessor. 

The AWA SP320 

The SP320 offers you complete versatility. A Daisy 

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processings graphics printing and a wide selection of 

forms-feeders, including an envelope feeder. 




AM RP 1200 



MVARP130O/RPI6O0 



AWASP830 



AWA SP 320 



AWD 2964 



AWA New Zealand Limited 

€\ Data Systems Division 
> Head Office: P.O. Box 50-248 Porirua 



AUCKLAND 

P.O. Box 1363 
(09)760-129 



WELLINGTON 

P.O. Box 830 
(04)851-279 



CHRISTCHURCH 

P.O. Box 32054 
(03)890-449 



TOOLBOX 



>y/.«M»;.:.:«.>>:ov^w::^^^ 



A calculating type 



By Gordon Findlay 

Let's really speed up the onward rush 
of technology and write a program to 
turn our expensive computer into a 
simple, four-function calculator. That 
isn't as easy, or as silly, as it sounds. 

Why bother? The BASIC input 
statement has many limitations, as do 
the equivalents in most other languages. 
It rs not generally possible to type in an 
expression, such as "2 + 3" in response 
to the statement 
1 INPUT A 

Often, it would be useful to be able to 
do so. It would be nice to be able to type 
in a string and have the computer work 
out its value, The only common function 
anything like that is the VAL function, 
which converts a string to its corres- 
ponding numerical value: VAL ("1 23") is 
123, converting the string to a number. 

Unfortunately, in all but a very few 
dialects of BASIC, the function stops 
converting once a non-digit character, 
other than a decimal point, is found. In 
other words, VALC'12 + 3") is 12, as the 
conversion process stops at the "+" 
character. The aim of the program we 
write should be to take a string, such as 
"12+3", and evaluate it. 

One or two BASIC dialects do have 
this capability built in. If this applies to 
yours, you may still be interested in the 
program to learn a little about string 
handling and error trapping. 



Simple 
suggestion 



The tools 



What tools do we have? The string 
typed in - call it X$ - can be broken up 
using LEFT$, RIGHT$ and, if necessary, 
MIDS. Its length can be found using 
LEN(XS), and string comparisons work in 
the usual way, with X$ < Y$ meaning 
that XS comes before Y$ in extended 
alphabetical order. 

This extended alphabetical order is 
based on the ASCII character code, All 
strings are stored in this encoded form, 
in which each character is represented 



Mr V. Best, of Auckland, writes to 
suggest a simplification of the 
program in the June issue, dealing 
with bridge hands. His method avoids 
shuffling the cards at all, and so 
avoids sorting the four hands once 
they are dealt. 

His program takes each card in turn, 
and assigns them to a randomly 
chosen hand. Once a hand Is full any 
card destined for it is passed to the 
hand next around. 

This is much faster, hut I have a 
suspicious nature, and wonder what 
happens when there are three cards 
left, and only one hand, North say, 
isn't already complete. This means 
North must get the remaining three 
cards, which will be, as the cards 
aren't shuffled, the 4, 3 and 2 clubs. 
This will reduce the randomness of 
the deal a tittle. 

Mr Best uses an Amstrad, and his 
program deals a hand in about three 
seconds, which is quite respectable. 
He has also incorporated a printer 
routine for interesting hands. 

Remember, this column is 
supposed to be interactive!! Write to 
me (Gordon Findlay), c/- Bits and 
Bytes, (P.O. Box 9870, Auckland, 
with your suggestions, 

improvements, programming tricks 
and ideas. 

as a number between and 255, The 
exact details of the code aren't 
important, but we can test to see if a 
character is a digit by asking if it is 
between and 9, inclusive, in a 
construction such as: 
1 IF YS > - "0" AND YS C = "9" THEN 



Remember to compare with the strings 
"0" and "9", not their numerical values. 

How do we evaluate a string? We need 
to isolate the first and second numbers 
("operands") and the operation 

(addition, subtraction or whatever) from 
the string. To help allow for a bit of "free 
form" typing, anything else — blanks or 
garbage — will be ignored. The string 
##ab21# + 5GGGk " will yield 
the operands 21 and 5, and the operation 
" + ". Each operand will of course be a 
string still, but the sort which can be 
converted to numerical form with VAL[>. 

As we go, there will be cases in which 
things go a little astray, such as "12+", 
in which there is no second operand. 
There are lots of things which could be 
done in this case — the program will give 
some sort of answer, but you might 
prefer to abandon the conversion 
altogether. 

Getting started 

Here goes then. First, input a string, 
and make sure there is something to 
convert: 
30INPUT x$ 
40 IF LEN(X$)-0 THEN GOTO 30 

Now we must strip off all the 
characters in the string up to, but not 
including, the first digit: 
60 IF LEFT$[X$,1) > = "0" AND LEFT$ 
(X$J) < b "9" THEN GOTO 110 
70 IF LEN(X$) > 1 THEN XS = RIGHT$ 
(XS, LENIX$)-1) ELSE X$ = '" r 

Line 60 checks to see if the first 
character of what remains is a digit, and 
if so, moves to line 110 at which the 
first operand is isolated. Line 70 has the 
effect of replacing X$ by all but its first 
character. It is possible nothing is left, so 
include: 

80 IF LEN(X$) - THEN RS=0:GOTO 
370 'exit 

so that the result (RS) is zero, and jump 
to the end of the program. 

If some of the string is still left after the 



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46 - BITS Si BYTES - August 1985 



TOOLBOX 



yyyy-y.-yyyy.-.-.-.-ssyy.-.-.-.-.wsw^^ 



string, and can split off the first operand. 
The strategy is to split off the first letter, 
add It to the operand (which can be 
called 01 §) t and repeat this process until 
a non-digit is encountered. Here's one 
way of doing so: 



first character is removed, we must 
check again in case the new first 
character isn't a digit, so include: 
90 GOTO 60 

Now we can be sure the spaces, 
letters and so on — anything not a digit 
- has been stripped off the start of the 

110 01$^"" 

120 IF LEN<X*)=0 THEN SOTO 190 

130 X1$^LEFT*(X*, 1) 

140 IF (Xi$ < "O") DR <X1* > "9*'> THEN GC1T0 190 

150 D1$-Q1*+X1* 

160 IF LENCXS!) > 1 THEN X*-RIfiHT*CX* f LENCXS)-!) ELSE X* = M " 

170 GOTO 120 



We start (line 1 10) with a null string - 
length zero. If the string being evaluated 
has been exhausted, this part of the 
program is complete, The remainder 
simply looks at the first character (XI $}, 
checks to see if it is a digit (line 1 40) and 
If so, tacks it onto the operand 01 $. The 
string can then be shortened 60) and 
the process repeated. 

THEN RS=VAL 
IS 
1 THEN X*=RI 

AND C0P*<>" 

tQP*<> n /"1 THEN SOTO 190 



ISO IF 


LENCX*>™0 


200 


DP* 


=LEFT*<;XS f 


210 


IF 


LEN<X*> > 


220 


IF 


C0P*< >*' + " ) 



Next, the remains of the string must be 
scanned, character by character as 
usual, until an operation ( + , -, * or /) is 
found. If there isn't an operation, the 
result may as well be just the first 
operand found which can be converted 
to a number using VAL. Otherwise this is 
just like the first part: 

t;01$) :G0TQ 370 

GHT*CX* f LENCX*)-!) ELSE X*="" 
— «) AND <.0P*<> •**•*) AND 



Now the process is 
the second operand, 



repeated, to find 
02$. Again, we 



must check that there is still something 
left to convert: 



240 02*="" 

250 XI*=LEFT*tX* f £3 

260 IF Xi*>="0" AND Xl*< = n 3" THEN q.5»«Q2*+-XI* 

270 IF LENCX*>>1 THEN X*=RISHT*CX* T LENCX* >■■■!) 

Now the operands may be converted 
to number form, using VAL, and the 
appropriate operator selected. The 
operation is at this point stored as a 

290 01=VALCD1$) 
300 D2=VAL<;a2*> 
310 'make calculation 



: GOTO 250 



string, and cannot be used directly, 
There is one obvious error to avoid — 
division by zero doesn't make sense. 



There are two subtitles here. It is 
possible the second operand is null — in 
other words, the string ran out before the 
operand was found. In that case, 02$ = 
"", and the VAL function can cope — 
VAU"") = 0. 

Important jump 

After the appropriate operation is 
selected and carried out f It is important 
to jump around the rest, with 
"GOTO 370". 

All that remains is to output the result, 
and (right at the beginning) clear some 
string space if required: 



20 CLEAR 10000 



370 PRINT "Result: " ; RS 
380 END 

Now the program is complete. What 
can be done with it? First,the program 
isn't absolutely foolproof. There are odd 
Inputs which will cause trouble, and a 
few more tested can he added. 

Another useful Improvement would be 
to use a subroutine to strip spaces, 
letters and so forth, rather than repeating 
the code for the first and second 
operands, and perhaps the operation. 

The program doesn't cope with 
decimal points, but the VAL functions 
used in lines 290 and 300 could. Decimal 
points are filtered out, as in line 60. A 
useful project would be to allow points 
and negative signs, which are also 
filtered out. 

In use, of course, this would be 
converted to a subroutine and the 
subroutine used in place of ordinary input 
statements. Surprisingly, the program 
isn't unbearably slow. 



320 


IF 0P*="+" THEN RS = 01+02* GOTO 370 








330 


IF" QPSss"- 1 ' THEN RS=D1-D2:G0TD 370 




QkSV • ^^r 


fr- _j 


340 


IF 0P*=":#:" THEN RS = 01*02: GOTO 370 








350 


y C must be d i v x si on ) 






^ 


360 


IF 02 <> THEN RS - 01/02 


* T "J 


^r t^ 





Si 



Macintosh challenge 

Much of the project planning work 
for New Zealand's America's Cup 
challenge is being done on an Apple 
Macintosh. 

Apple's New Zealand distributor, 
CED has lent the challenge a 
Macintosh 128K, Imagewriter, 
Multiplan, MacWrite, MacPaint, 
MacProject and an external disk 
drive. 

"The Macintosh is perfect for my 
needs, Using MacProject, I can 
design and schedule the whole 
project," says project organiser 
Aussie Malcolm. 



MacProject allows the user to 
draw a project schedule on the 
screen and enter project beginning 
dates and required task completion 
dates, resources and fixed and 
variable cost data for each task. The 
program then calculates the 
beginning and ending dates for each 
task as well as for the entire project. 

The Macintosh will also help in 
communication between Ron 
Holland in Ireland and Laurie 
Davidson in Takapuna, especially in 
the latter stages. Holland is using a 
Macintosh and is is expected the two 
machines will communicate via a 
modem. 



Aussie Malcolm planning with the aid 
of his Apple Macintosh. 

BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 47 



TOOLBOX 



SOftD 



10 'input of arithmetical expressions 
20 CLEAR 10000 
30 INPUT XS 

IF LEN(X»)-0 THEN 8OT0 30 

'strip everything before first digit 

IF LEFT$(X$,n >= "0" AND LEFT* t X$, 1 > i= "9" THEN GGT0 .110 

IF LENCX*> > 1 THEN X$^RIGHT* (X$ r LEN<X*)-1> ELSE X*-"" 

IF LENCX*) = THEN fcS^0:60T0 370 'exit 

GOTO £0 

r get first operand: read digits only 

01$-"" 

IF LENCXS)^0 THEM GDTD 130 

Xl$=LEFT$i.X$, 1) 

IF CXi* < "0"> OR <X1$ > "9") THEN GOTO 130 

01$-01$+-X1$ 

IF LENCXS) > 1 THEN X$-R IGHTS <X$ T L£N(X$)-1) ELSE X*=" M 
170 GQTG 120 
180 ' find operation 

IF LEN(X*)=0 THEN RS^VALCOl $> : GOTO 370 

GP^LEFTSCX*, U 

IF LEN<X$;> > 1 THEN X$=RIGHT$ CX* ? LENtXS) -1) ELSE X*=" " 

IF *:OP*<>" + "> AND (OPSO 11 - 11 ) AND <:ap*<>"*" )- AND (0F$<>"/" 
THEN 60 TO 190 
220 r find second operand 

02*="" 

X1$=LEFT*<:X$, 1> 

IF X1S>= M 0" AND Xl*<= "9" THEN 02*=^02$ + Xl^ 

IF LEN<X$>>1 THEN X$=RIGHT* <. X$, LEN t X$) - 1) : GOTO 250 

p convert operands to numerical form 

dl»VAL<0i$) 
300 02=VAL<Q2*> 
310 T mak£» calculation 

IF QP*="-h" THEN RS = 01+02:3010 370 

IF 0P$ = "- 1 ' THEN RS=Qi-Q2:GGTQ 370 

IF 0P*=":fc" THEN RS = 01*02: GOTO 370 



v.V.r^^v^,w.- J - J -,-. L -.w.-,.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.w.-,,.... 



Sord info 



40 

50 
SO 
70 
80 
90 
100 

no 

120 
130 
140 

1150 
160 



1 30 
20 O 
210 
220 



240 

2S0 
260 
270 

2eo 

230 



320 

340 
350 

360 



'(must be division) 
IF 02 O THEN RS = 

370 PRINT "Result: " j RS 

3B0 END 



01/02 



Dear Sord user, 

The Sord User Group has collected 
material about Sord computers for 
some time now, mainly about the 
M23, PIPS 3, and Sord BASIC. Most 
of this information has gone to 
dealers but little has come through to 
users. 

It really is a question of time and 
money to get it out to you. 
Newsletters and meetings do not 
seem to have met this need fully, so 
we're on to a new idea of sending 
you an index of available material, 
and then sending copies of 
information on request and payment. 

There is no charge for any Sord 
owner to be on the mailing list 
(please let me know of any more 
users who would like to be added to 
it.) The information will be sold at a 
cost of $25 for 50 pages with index 
of material, and copies will be 
supplied two to four weeks after 
ordering. The index to the first 
collection of information available is 
complete and further indexes are 
being prepared. 

I am a user of Sord equipment and 
not a dealer, so my aim is to get 
information from at! available places 
and send it to other users. 

Please return this letter with your 
cheque for $25 for the first copy of 
Sord information - GRAEME HALL 
(P.O. Box 391, Manurewa). 



INVOICING 
MADE EASY 



Designed for small businesses & 
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SANYO MBC-550 



Columbia 

By Richard Pierre 

This program will draw a space shuttle 
and label it with the name, Columbia. 



10 COLOR 3, 1 

20 CLS 

30 LINE (L70, 75) -(424, 75) ,7 

4$ LINE( 170, 75)- (90,40) ,7 

50 LINE (90* 40)- t65:< 401*7 

60 LINE (65, 40? -MOO, 75) ,7 

70 LINE <100»75>- (100,93) ,7 

80 LIMEf LOO, 93)- < 430,^3), 7 

90 LINE (430, 93) -(470, 85) ,7 

100 LINE (430, B5)- (459,85) ,7 

110 CIRCLE (425.60), 15, ,75, 1, ,309.7 

120 LINE(440,eO>-<459.85) ,7 

130 LINE (460*86)- (475, 99) ,0 

140 CIRCLE (4 70,?-) , 12, .75. .25. .308, O^F 

ISO LINE<470, 97)^(100, 97) ,0 

160 LIWEC431 ,94)-(431.86) ,0 

170 LINE (431,94)- (100, 94) ,0 

180 LINE (431 .B6)-(460.86) .0 

190 LINE < 100, 94 >- (70, 95) ,0 



200 LINE (100, 97)- (70,96) ,0 

210 PAINT (468. 93) .0.0 

220 PA I NT C 170,80? , 7, 7 

230 LTNE (190. 75) -( 190,85) ,0 

240 LINECl9l,75?-f 191 ,85) .0 

250 LINE (190,85) -(400.85) ,0 

260 L I NE ( 4 00 , B5 ) - ( 400 , 75 > * 

270 LINE(39 t ? t 85)-(399,75> ,0 

280 HNE<242,75)-<242,Q5) ,0 

290 LINE<243.75)-(243.S5> .0 

300 L INE ( 294 , 75) - < 294 , B5 ) , 

310 LINE (295, 75>-(295,B5) ,0 

"20 LINE (347, 75)- (347, 85) ,0 

330 LINE(34B,75)- (34B,S5) ,0 

340 LINE(77i45>-(lO4.70) ,0 

350 LINE' 78, 45) -r 105, 70) , 

360 LINE (77, 45)- (70,45) ,0 

370 LINE (104, 70) -(95, 70) ,0 

380 LINE (438, 76>- (420,76) ,0 

390 LINE (440. 79)- (420, 79) , 

400 LINE (420, 7*5 J- (420, 76) ,0 

410 LINE(421,79)-(421 l 74> ,0 

420 LINE (430, 79) -(430, 76 j ,0 

430 LINE(431,79)-(431,76) ,0 

440 LJNEceo,75)-(100,77),0 

450 L I NE ( BO, 83 ) - ( 1 00, 8 1 ) . 

460 L INE (BO, 95i -( 100,87) , 

470 LINE (80. 97)- (100, 91 > ,0 

480 LINE(B0.75i-(B0,93) ,0 

490 LINE (BO, 85 J- (BO, "31 ,0 

500 LINE* 100.77) -(100.81 i ,0 

510 LIN£(lOO,97)-(loO,9n ,0 

520 PAINT (81. 77) .0.0 

530 PAINT (81, B7) ,0,0 

540 SYMBOL ( 10, 5 i . "SPACE SHUTTLE " . 6, 3. 5 t 6 

550 SYMBOL { 10, 140) , "COLUMBIA 1 , 10, 4, 4 

560 60T0 560 



48 - BITS & BYTES - August 1 9B5 



MfiCHIN€ MNGUflG€ 

Indexed addressing 

By Joe Colquitt 



The loop at the end of the last column 
is an example of indexed addressing. The 
target address is actually the stated 
address + X or Y bytes, depending on 
the index register used. Here is the loop 
again, with a full explanation. 



Most 6502 machines will run these 
routines as long as absolute addresses 
are taken into account. Atari users 
should double-check routine syntax as 
there are some differences. 



C000 


LDA#t*tt? 




C0££ 


LDXtt*O0 




eeeii 


sTr^*O80e 


,* 


e^?i7 


9^A*O9B0 


X 


C00A 


STASDA00 


X 


C00D 


STASDBQ0 


y. 


eerie 


INX 




cen 1 


Br-r$C004 




CP13 


RTS 





rSET THE ACCUMULATOR VALUE TO 'YELLOW* 
;SET THE INDEX'S INITIAL VALUE 

t STORE THE CONTENTS OF THE ACCUMULATOR AT SD800+X 
t STORE THE CONTENTS OF THE ACCUMULATOR AT $0900 +X 
% STORE THE CONTENTS OF THE ACCUMULATOR AT SDACO + S: 
r STORE THE CONTENTS OF THE ACCUMULATOR AT $DB00*X 
' INCREMENT THE VALUE IN THE X REGISTER 
-'TEST THE INDEX 



The object of this loop is to till colour 
RAM {55296-56295) with yellow. The 
simplest way to do this is in four 
quarters, as there are 1000 locations to 
fill, and the index can only perform a 
count of 0-255. 

The first thing to do is put the colour 
code into the accumulator, Next, set the 
counter (index) to 0. Now the meat in the 
sandwich. The contents of the 
accumulator are stored at an address 
which is incremented each time the 
index is — the first time through the 
loop, the target addresses are 
$D800+O,$D900+O,$DA00+0, and 
SDB00+O. The index is increased at 
$C010, then tested at SC011. 

The process of testing in loops 
involves checking flags in the status 
register and will be dealt with in full later. 
In this example, the "zero" flag is 
checked to see if the index has "rolled 
over" from 255 to 0, as the datasette 
counter does at 999, 

"BNE$C004" means "branch if not 
equal |to zero! to $C004". At the end of 
the first time through the loop, index has 
become "1" (obviously not 0), and the 
routine has branched back to SC0G4. 
The target addresses are now $D800+1 
(552971, $0900+1 ( $DA00+1, and 
$DB00+1. This continues until the 



target addresses are $0800+255 etc 
and the index is incremented once more. 
It has now "rolled over 1 ' from 255 to P 
the zero flag is set and instead of 
branching, the "RTS" is executed. The 
basic equivalent is: 

10 A"7:X=0 

20 P0KES5296+X,A 

80 PGKE55296+X,m 

m P0KE5555S+X,fl 

40 POKE55808+X,A 

50 POKE56064+X..A 

80 X=X+1 

">0 IFX>255THEN90 

80 DQTO20 

90 RETURN 

This is a form of looping that uses the 
Y register and a pair of consecutive zero- 
page bytes. Zero-page means the 
address is less than 256 ($0100). As a 
simple example of indirect indexing, 
consider the problem of shifting a block 
of data, 256 bytes in length, from 
$C100 to $3000 (49408 to 12288), 
This situation could arise if you were 
using redefined characters and wanted 
to change them. The ML for the loop 
looks like this: 



C000 


LDAttSCJ 




C0FI& 


STASFF 




C004 


LOA1t$30 




C006 


9TASFD 




C£i£8 


LOA***00 




C0GA 


STA*FE 




C00C 


STA*FC 




C09E 


TAY 




C00F 


LDA<*FE) 


r Y 


C01 1 


STA<*FC> 


rt 


C013 


I NY 




CGJ4 


BNE *C00F 




CrciG 


RTS 





?PET THE HIGH BYTE OF TH£ PAIR *FE,*FF 
?SET THE H.t*5H BYTE OF THE PAIR SFCyWD 



fSET THE LOW BYTES 



J SET THE COUNTER TO <TAY=TFAN5FER ACCUrrfULATQR TO 

;LOAD ACCUMULATOR WITH THE CONTENTS OF ' SC100+Y* 

t STORE IT AT 'S3000+Y' 

; INCREMENT THE COUNTER 

: IF LES^ THAN SS6 .BRANCH BACK INTO THE LOOP 

; RETURN 



This type of loop is not really suited to 
short ioopSpbecause of the space needed 
to set it up ($CO00-$C00E). The shift 
could have been more easily written with 
indexed addressing, as in the first 
example. Indirect indexing is, however, 



pure magic when many kilobytes need to 
be transferred, such as moving a bit- 
mapped screen. This example transfers 
8K from $8000 to $2000 in 0.14 
seconds, The BASIC equivalent takes 
133 sees. 



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BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 49 



MACHIN6 LfiNGUflG€ 



-^v. : ;wv.%Y.^"vV.;* W v.:.:.v---v,v;y W ^ 



TSET LOW BYTES 



TSET counter 

; PERFORM TRANSFER 

; INCREMENT COUNTER AND TEST 

?IF Y^Q^THE HIGH BYTES ARE INCREMENTED 

?TEST *FF TO SEE IF IT HAS REACHED THE UPPER LIMIT 

?THIS MEANS 'COMPARE MEMORY CONTENTS WITH tt*fi0 ' 

MF LESS THAN 6$A£ME $FF'S CONTENTS-ttSAG O&.TKEN LOOP 



cee*e ldah*80 ?set high bytes 

C002 STAS^F 
C3E4 LOA«*E0 
C00G STA*FD 
C0&9 LOA**00 
C00A STA*FE 
CQQC STA*FC 
C00E TAY 
C00F LDfl(*FE>, 
CBll 8TfU*FC) . 
C3I3 1NY 
C013 BNE*C00F 
CCU6 TNC*FO 
CO IS 1NCSFF 
C01A LDASFF 
C0 1C CMP«$P10 
C01E BNE*C00F 
C020 RTS 

As the routine progresses, the 
contents of $FF are incremertfed by one 
each time the Y register cycles through 
0-255, $FF starts at $80, then 
$81, $82, $83, etc Similarly for $FD 
[$20,$21,$22 . , .). The upper limit is 
set by $800O+8K=$A000 (32768 + 
8192=40960). To fully appreciate these 
loops do some experimenting. 

Anyone who would Ike a copy of the 
public domain monitor, "Supermon", for 
the C-64, should send a disk or cassette, 
and a stamped return envelope, to: 
Joe Coiquitt, 
5 Martin Ave, 
Mt Albert, 
Auckland. 



256K 2nd 
processor 



Solidisk has announced a 256K, 
internally fitted, tube compatible, 6502 
second processor for the BBC, with 
facilities for partitioning memory 
between sideways RAM, silicon disk 
and normal program use. The UK price 
is only marginally higher than an Acorn 
second 6502 processor, This places 
the BBC alongside Atari, Commodore 
and Apple which all now offer 128K 
versions of their eight-bit machines. 



Franklin 
out of 

Chapter 1 1 



Franklin Computer Corporation, 
which manufactures the Apple- 
compatible Franklin range of 
computers, reportedly left Chapter 
II in USA in March, 

Chapter II is a section under 
American law allowing a company 
protection from its creditors to give 
it time to sort out financial 
problems. 

Many companies don't overcome 
those problems but Franklin joins 
Osborne Computers in managing to 
trade its way out of trouble. 

Franklin is represented in New 
Zealand by Hitec Micro (P.O. Box 
1978, Auckland) but the computer 
is sold almost exclusively to 
schools here. 



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50 - BITS fit BYTES - August 1985 



SP€CTRRVID€0 



:-:-■-:■:■:■:■:-:-:->:■:■:■:■:-:-:-:•: : : :•:---:-: :::<--v::-x^-::::>x->:::oc^ 



.■■•■■.■ ^.■.■..■v.p,.,-.....v^v,v^-'----- 



The sound of music 



By Barbara Bridger 

The last two articles have described 
how to use the PLAY command; now it Is 
time to look at the SOUND command 
which atlows you to write values directly 
into the registers of the PSG (program- 
mable sound generator) and is very 
suited to producing special sound 
effects. 

It is, of course, possible to produce the 
same sounds ustng either PLAY or 
SOUND statements because they are 
both giving values to the same set of 
registers; the PLAY statements are just a 
more indirect method, For example: 
PLAY H SOm512o4d' or 

SOUND 7 r 254:SOUND 0J72:SOUND 
1 H 1:SOUND 8J6:SOUND 11,255;SOUND 
12,1:SOUND 13,0 give the same effect. 

The 16 registers associated with the 
PSG are numbered to 1 5, but registers 
14 and 15 are used by the Spectra video 
operating system as input/output 
registers and cannot be accessed by a 
BASIC program. 

The format of the SOUND statement 
is: 

SOUND register number, value 
which is quite straightforward. But 
determination of the value to go into the 
register is a little more complicated and 
depends on the register used. 



Two by two 



The register pairs, R0:R1, R2:R3 and 
R4:R5 r are for tone generator control for 
channels A, B and C respectively. RO, R2 
and R4 give fine tone control, and Rl , R3 
and R5 coarse tone control. The fine 
tone and coarse tone values for a 
particular tone frequency are determined 
from the following relationships: 
fine tone = (3579545/ 

{32* Frequency )J AND 255 coarse tone = 
{3579545/32 "Frequency))/256 

(Now it becomes obvious why playing 
music is easier with the PLAY 
command). The frequency of a note one 
octave higher is doubled, so this piece of 
program will play the note of A at octave 
intervals. 

10 SOUND 7,&Bllill 110 

20 SOUND 8, 15 

30 FR - 55 

4o for i^i tp s 

50 F * C3579545/£32#FR>3 



60 FINE = F AND 255 

70 COARSE = F/256 

60 SOUND O r FINE 

SO BOUND 1, COARSE 

100 FOR J=i TO 200 i NEXT J 

110 FR = FR*2 

120 NEXT I 

A digression into bits and bytes is 
needed at this point. Each of the PSG 
registers is an eight-bit lor single byte) 
register and can therefore hold numbers 
In the range to 255 — in binary 
notation, 00000000 to 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 . Each 
or 1 in this notation is termed a bit, and 
for some registers, not all bits have an 
influence on the PSG. Where tt is 
necessary to refer to individual bits, this 
naming pattern will be used; 
b7b6b5b4b3b2b1b0 
00000000 

Noise control 

Register 6 gives control of the 




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BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 51 



SP€CTRfiVID€0 



:-:^:w:-X-XW:-X^^^Vr:-:-:-:-:^^^^^^ 



frequency of the noise source but only 
bits bO to b4 inclusive have an effect — 
SOUND 6,4S SOUND 6,112 SOUND 
6,144 will all be the same as SOUND 
6,16. 



BINARY 
00 1 1 0000 
01 1 

LOO 10000 
000 10000 

signi f icant 
bites 



DEC III AL 

4S 
112 
144 

lb 



Register 7 is the "mixer" register. It 
determines which channels are open for 
noise H tone or both, It is bO to b5 which 
are the significant bits as tabled below. 



I'OtoC un Oft 



(HiilL i..:. .■ I. 
: - - I 



i 



*q r JQlJNIi 7.&H Ltl i I'll Dj*r|nel tt Vpvn t's* l*»* 

biVUr-D i - »*£ l J i " ■!.' I i . A [ i Cil&iltfo L -.. Open ' ■.-« ftoV.H* 
bQ'JUk ",L&J| ii.H.Mir ,^, ^n uJil^Ml to 

Si HNlj ■ ,, f-n ii. -■ ■' » 'i i I 

Surprisingly, closing channels to both 
noise and tone does not always turn 
them off completely- This is done by 
putting the value, 0, in the volume 
registers. 

Registers 8 H 9 and 10 determine the 
volume for channels A r B and C, or 
whether a particular envelope shape is 
used. Values for volume range from 
(softest) to 15 (loudest) as for the PLAY 
command, but if b4 = 1 {decimal 16 Is 
one possibility), the control of volume is 
determined by the envelope shape. 

Registers 1 1 and 1 2 serve the same 
function as the M parameter in the PLAY 
command — they control the envelope 
frequency. The values to be put into 
these registers are determined this way: 
Register 11 value = (3579545/ 
(51 2 'Envelope Frequency)! AND 255 
Register 12 value = (3579545/ 
(51 2 'Envelope Frequency )|/256, 



Register 1 3 sets the envelope shape 
chosen from the same range to 1 5 as 
for the PLAY command. 

So much for the theory! In practice, a 
bit of experimentation is required to 
achieve the desired result. These 
examples could serve as a starting point: 

10 CLSi LOCATE 15, 7; PRINT' SIREN' 

20 SOUND 7 , 254: SOUND a, IB 

30 SOUND 0,0: SOUND ll,u: SOUND 12,200 

40 FQF 1*45$ \u 60 STtF' -5 

50 SJUJMLf UjLsSOUMt) 13.#:U 

fci.) NEXT i 

ZU liOTU 20 

10 CLb: LOCATE 15, 7: PRINT ' B[F:D CHIRK' 

20 SOUND 7 , 25 1 1 SOUND 1 , 1 5 

30 FOR I» I TO 50 

4u FOF: J=. LO 10 bO 

50 SOUND 4, J 

NEXTsMEXT 

Music Mentor 

Reviewed by 
Barbara Bridger 

This ROM cartridge certainly gives a 
good idea of the music-making 
potential of the Spectravideo. 

There are three main modes — 
piano r replay and record — in which 
to operate, and within each mode 
there are options to alter rhythm, 
octave, instrument and tempo. 

The rhythm choices are march, 
waltz, tango, disco or swing, and are 
fun to change and demonstrate one 
facet of the infinite variety of music. 
You can try a tango Blue Danube and 
compare it to a march Blue Danube. 
Not quite what Strauss had in mind! 

The piano and organ {labelled as 
regular) were the most realistic 
instrument types. The flute, gong and 
brass required a bit of imagination but 
were certainly different types of 
sound. 



fcn SOUND 10,0 

10 CLS:UJCATfc 15, 7: PRINT' 6UZILP' 

20. SOUND 8, IS! SOUND 7,62 

30 FOP I- 1 TG 10 

40 SOUND l r 14 

50 FOP Je 50 U5 

SO SuUND 0,J 

70 NEXT: NEXT 

80 SOUND 8,0 

10 CLS: LOCATE 15,7: PRINT 'SHELL' 

20 SOUND 8,15:S0UND 7,62 

30 FOP I = 50 TO 255 

40 SOUND Or r 

50 NEXT I 

50 SOUND 8,0: SOUND 6, 15: SOUND 7,7 

60 SOUND 10 IE,: SOUND 12 r 70: SOUND 13, 



The program has an excellent 
system of menus controlled by the 
function keys, making it very easy to 
move from one mode to another or to 
alter the rhythm, tempo or whatever. 

The program does its best to allow 
the Spectravideo keyboard to 
simulate a piano or organ keyboard 
(there is a double row of keys) and the 
screen display shows which '"piano" 
key is being pressed. 

After a bit of practice it's possible 
to play the melody line from sheet 
music in the record mode, then use 
the replay mode to play it back with 
different combinations of rhythm, 
tempo etc. 

The cost of this cartridge is $69,95, 
Easy to understand instructions are 
provided but are not really necessary 
because of the menu instructions on 
screen. 

Review cartridge supplied by 
Einstein Scientific {P.O. Box 27-138, 
Wellington). 



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Dealer appointments open 



Telex NZ 21 997 



52 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 




Any 1 back issues 
for only $15 

(individual copies $2.00 each) 



But! Order now as stocks are strictly limited. 



November Review of BBC computer and 
"82 Microprofessor 1 , start of series on 

Issue 3 selecting a micro for a small business. 

feature on microcomputers for 

accountants. 

February "83 Hand-held computer feature , review of 
issue 5 Sirus 1 and Epson HX-20, start of 

farming and education columns, 

June "83 Guide to farm software ,■ reviews of 
Issue 9 Olivetti M20, Dick Smith Wizard, 

Visicalc. 

July J S3 Reviews of Spectrum, BMC 800, 

Issue 1 Supercalc, Compute Mate printer. 
Start of Microbee column. 

August '83 Reviews of Sard M5, Franklin Ace, 
•ssue 1 1 Mannesmann printer, Calcster. Word 

processing feature. Start of 

Commodore 64 column. 

September Review of VZ200. Colour Genie, 
'83 Multiplan, Communications feature. 

Vol 2 No 1 

October '83 Reviews of NEC ARC. Epson QX-10, 
Vol 2 No 2 Casio FP 1000 and JR 100. 16 Bit 
feature- 



November 
83 
Vol 2 No 3 

Feb '84 
Vol 2 No 5 



March '84 
Vol 2 No 6 

April "84 
Vol 2 No 7 



May '84 
Vol 2 No 8 



Reviews of Casio PB 100, 
Cromemco C-10, 



Proteus, 



Summary of all computers $5-1 0,000 
in N,Z. Reviews of Sega, TI99, Franklin 
Ace 1 200 and Epson FX-80 printer. 

Reviews of Macintosh, HP1 50, Z1 00. 
daisy wheel printers, Program special. 

Communications feature. Reviews of 
the Electron, DEC Rainbow, Pencil II t 
Amust. 

Colour plotters. 

Reviews of Sanyo 16 bit, Apricot, 
Televideo portable, Casio lap computer 
and Sharp MZ-700. 



June "84 Printers on the market. Reviews of 
Vol 2 No 9 Dick Smith Challenger, Sord lap 
computer, Atari 600 and 800 XL. 

July '84 Printers on the market. Reviews of 

Vol 2 No 10 Dick Smith, CAT, NEC and Tandy lap 
computers. Financial spreadsheets. 

August '84 Reviews of Tandy 2000. Tl 
Vol 2 No 11 Professional, and Eagle Word- 
processing feature. 

September Reviews of Epson, PX-8, Super 5 and 
'84 Pinwriter printers Lotus 1 ,2.3, 

Vol 3 No 1 

October '84 Reviews of Memotech, IBM PC and 
Vol 3 No 2 Tandy portables, Visi-Qn. 

November Summary of all computers under 
'84 $2000 in N.Z. Reviews of HP 110, 

Vol 3 No 3 Kaypro 1 0. 

Dec/January Summary of computers from $2000 
"B5 to $7000. Reviews of Apple He, Zenith 

Vol 3 No 4 Z1 50 PC, Morrow MDil. 

February 85 Summary of computers over $7000. 
Vol 3 No 5 Reviews of Wang PC, Sanyo 

MBC775, Commodore 16, Kitset 

modem advice. 



March '85 
Vol 3 No 6 

April '85 
Vol 3 No 7 



May '85 
Vol 3 No 8 



June "85 
Vol 3 No 9 



July '85 
Vol3 No 10 



Reviews of Sinclair 
TMC board, 



QL, Tandy 1000, 



Reviews of Amstrad CPC464, 
Osborne Vixen, Sperry PC, Apricot F1 . 
Telecommunications feature. 

Reviews of NEC APC 111. Panasonic Sr 
Partner, Commodore Plus 4. Start of 
series on machine language, 

Beginning of dot matrix printer survey. 
Reviews of Spectravideo SV72B. NCR 
PC 4i, Networking feature. 

Commodore PC10, Star SG10 
Printer, Inn ova drive reviewed. Dot 
Matrix and daisywheel printers 
surveyed. 



Clip and post the order form below to Bits & Bytes, Box 827, Christchurch 

or use the form on the bottom of the subscription 

card in the centre of the magazine. 



NAME , . , Please forward issue No's . . 

ADDRESS . . . . 

Enclosed is my cheque for $ 



' 



SANYO 



X*M*X.:.:^:o:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-. \wy.^:<-:-r.-.-.-ivrr>s.'SS^^^ 



Profile of a Sanyo 



By Noel Weeks 



In May last year, we saw the arrival of 
the 550/555 series with 1 28K RAM, one 
or two 160K disk drives and bundled 
software. The 550-2/555-2 series, with 
320K drives and even - more bundled 
software, followed in October. 

1 saw the need for a user group, so off 
to Sanyo NZ I went, and in January, 
armed with 40-odd names from around 
the country, the first meeting was 



This is the first of a series on the 
Sanyo MS-DOS version computer. 



organised. Membership has since 
progressed to 70-odd, with monthly 
meetings, workshops and a newsletter. 
The group keeps in constant touch with 
American user groups and is frequently 
updating the public domain library. 




the amazing 



brother 



TWINRITERS 



The first printer to combine daisy wheel 
and dot matrix printing in the same machine! 

• 36 cps daisy wheel printing for word * 140 ops dot matrix for data 
processing processing 

• Choice of six dot desities • Long fife ribbon 

• Optional cut sheet feeding • Serial and para He! interface 

On Demonstration at Systems 85 
Business Hectronics Ltd SttS£mm£* 



54 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



Let's take a look and see what the 
Sanyo is all about. On first glimpse, you 
will find that there are three IBM- 
compatible levels: 

• Level 1 is the stock-standard 55X 
series and the least IBM-compatible. The 
55X wilf quite happily run various IBM 
programs, provided no IBM machine- 
specific calls are used. This is the most 
popular of Sanyo's MS-DOS computers. 

• Level 2 r the 55X with video board 
[sometimes called Lotus board because 
it allows you to run Lotus 1 1-2-3) 
definitely moves quite a lot closer to IBM 
compatibility. 

• Level 3, the MBC-775, Is a totally new 
machine which looks similar and is a lot 
closer to IBM. Unfortunately, in 
transition, it lost its compatibility with 
the 55X series. 

Is the 55X dead?! No way. Rumours 
flourish about new accessories for the 
55X and we wait in eager anticipation. 
Not a week goes by without something 
new appearing on the market for the 
55X. As purchased, the 55X is 
pleasantly functional, so let's look at 
some of its general capabilities. 

The standard machine has 1 28K RAM, 
upgradeable to 256K (minus the 16K 
used for the video RAM), If you're into 
large financial spreadsheets, a RAM 
upgrade will probably be needed, 
although you should check with MS-DOS 
version you're using first! 

Lot smaller 

Early Sanyos use MS-DOS 1 .25 which 
is significantly smaller than the later 
version, MS-DOS 2.1 1, A memory 
upgrade can often be avoided, simply by 
reverting to MS-DOS 1.25. This would 
probably be one of the few occasions 
when you will use 1 .25 instead of 2. 1 1 . 

The early versions of MS-DOS 
supplied with the Sanyo had four files 
missing. This has now been corrected. 
These MS-DOS utilities - Find, Sort, 
More and Recover, are well worth 
getting. But don't play with Recover 
unless you know what you're doing. 

The 55X comes standard with a 
Centronics port fthe RS232 is an 
optional extra). With a printer plugged 
into the Centronics and Wordstar on the 
55X is a touch sfow in screen handling, 
although recently, a patch was released 
to correct this. 

InfoStar, MailMerge, CafcStar and 
SpellStar complete the bundled software 
supplied with the Sanyo. As purchased, 
the Sanyo is capable of handling word 
processing, financial spreadsheets, 
database management and mail 
management. 

Each program works fine on its own 
and, used in combination, they become 
even more powerful. 

Turn to page 76 



SP€CTRUM 



x---v^:-xooo«.;.:.:.:.w*^ 



■:;::-x->.-:h;. pW w-.;.;.^v.v;';'L' 



^-.V.w.w.yw-'^v-, 



'.'.'.■ Vi , i , i , , , i , .'.'. , . , .'.'.'.-.v.v.v. , ;.v.;. 



The protection business 



By Gary Parker 



Several people have written to me 
asking how they can protect BASIC 
programs from being stopped or listed, 
so I will show a few simple methods of 
doing this. 

It is difficult to get a BASIC program to 
ignore the BREAK key H but it isn't too 
hard to get the Spectrum to "seize up" 
when BREAK is pressed. If the user 
presses BREAK, the screen turns black 
and the program must be re-loaded, 

This may annoy the user, but the 
BREAK key is unlikely to be pressed by 
accident on the Spectrum, so if someone 
tries to list your program and has to re- 
load it, it probably serves the user right! 
Most commercial programs are in 
machine code and simply ignore BREAK, 
but I have seen some which react to 
BREAK in this manner. 

Getting the Spectrum to seize up when 
BREAK is pressed usually involves 
manipulating the system variables in 
some way so that an error occurs if the 
program is stopped. The interpreter 
becomes confused, and somewhere in 
the ROM, a machine code routine goes 
wrong and seizes up the computer (of 
course no harm is done, the computer 
just has to be turned off and on again to 
restore control). 1 know of two easy 
ways to do this. 

POKE 23659,0 sets the number of 
lines on the bottom of the screen to zero. 
If BREAK is then pressed, the computer 
tries to print a message on the bottom of 
the screen and finds there are no lines 
there to do so, and so seizes up. The 
POKE must be In the first line executed, 
usually the first line of the program. 



An advantage 



This method has the advantage of 
allowing the program to use all 24 lines 
of the screen, instead of the usual 22, 
but it has the disadvantage that no 
BASIC commands can be used which 
use the bottom two lines. So you can't 
use INPUT and suchlike. To 
demonstrate, enter this: 

10 POKE 23659, 

20 PRINT AT 21,0; "this is line 21 as 
usual", but tNs is line 22 "," and this is line 
23I" 

30 GO TO 30 

RUN this, and you'll see that all 24 
lines (numbered to 23) can be used. 
Now press BREAK - oh no! the computer 
seizes up. 

POKE 23613,0 produces similar 
effects* It corrupts the error stack, so 
that when an error occurs and the 
computer refers to the error stack, it 
becomes confused and seizes up. This 
method does not alter the screen or 



anything else, so you can still use INPUT 
and so on. Unless you want to PRINT on 
all 24 lines of the screen, this POKE is 
probably the best one to use, Try this 
example: 

10 POKE 23613, 

20 PRJNT AT f 0; INK <RND*7>; "Try 
BREAK" 

30 GOTO 20 

Okay so now you can prevent a 
program being stopped while it is 
running, If you save the program using 
LINE so that it auto-starts when loaded, 
your program is fairly secure. But many 
Spectrum users know that auto-start 
programs can be loaded and listed by 
using MERGE. 1 "', 

How can you overcome this? A good 
way is to save the BASIC program as a 
CODE file which auto-runs. This cannot 
be stopped with MERGE, and has the 
added advantage that a user loading your 
program will think it is machine code. 



Memory map 



To save a BASIC program in this way, 
you have to work out where in memory 
the program begins and ends. The 
Spectrum manual contains a diagram of 
the memory map which shows that the 
starting address to use is" 23552 H the 
address of the system variables, which 
must be saved with the BASIC program. 

After the system variables come the 
microdrive maps, channel information, 
and then the program itself. After the 
program come various bits and pieces, all 
of which must be saved. So to find 
where all this ends, you have to find 
where memory is empty. Empty memory 
contains nothing but zeroes, so you need 
a program which will scan the memory 
until it finds a lot of zeroes in a row: 

9999 FOR k= 23552 TO 60000: PRINT k, 
PEEK k: NEXT k 

(Use 30000 instead of 60000 if you 
have a 1 6K Spectrum}, Since you have a 
program in memory already, you should 
add this line to the end of it. and access it 
with GO TO 9999, Addresses and their 
memory contents will be displayed, and 
when you see a lot of zeroes in a row in 
the contents column, you can press 
BREAK to stop the line. 

Take note of the addresses near where 
the zeroes started, since this is the 
address you will use when you save the 
program. The actual address is not 
critical. Since the program may contain 
quite a few zero bytes, make sure you 
have the true start of empty memory by 
allowing quite a few zero bytes to appear 
on the screen before you note the 
address. 

It doesn't matter if you save too much, 
but saving too little will mean the 
program won't work. 1 usually allow a 



couple of screenfuls of zeroes to appear 
before noting the address. Even if you 
end up saving several hundred bytes of 
empty memory, it will take only a few 
extra seconds to load. 

Once you have worked out where the 
program ends, you can save it, Work out 
the length of the program by subtracting 
23552 from the end address you found, 
and save the program with: 
SAVE "name" CODE 23552, length: RUN 
linenumber 

where "name" is the program name, 
"length" is the program length, and line- 
number" is the line number at which you 
want the program to start (often 10h 



Important 



It is important to have the RUN on the 
same line, separated by a colon. This will 
cause the whole line to be stored by the 
interpreter. Since this stored line will be 
re-loaded when you re-load the program, 
the program will RUN as soon as it is 
loaded, whether the user likes it or not! 



AMSTRAD SOFTWARE 


Alt manufactured under Licence in New Zealand. 


Tasword 4 64 -Disk (New Release) 


$74.95 


Tasword 464 (Amsword) 


$54.95 


Tasprint 


$34 95 


Tascopy 


$34.95 


Masterchess 


$24.95 


Pyjamarama 


$24.95 


Everyone's a Wally 


$29.95 


Dlan 


$42.00 


Knight Lore 


$34 95 


Alien 8 


$34.95 


Mastercalc (Best Spreadsheet) 


$80 00 


Quill (Adventure Writer) 


S62.00 


Illustrator 


$62 00 


Bridge 


$49,95 


Forth 


$49,95 


Fruity Frank 


$24.95 


Database 


$49.95 


Music Composer 


$32,00 


SPECTRUM SOFTWARE 



Alien 8 
KnightJore 
Sabre Wolf 
Underworld 
Herberts Dummy Run 
Shadowfire 
Doomsdark Revenge 
Games Player Interface 



$29.95 
$29.95 
$29.95 
$29.95 
$29,95 
$44.00 
$44.00 
$72.95 



Plus over 1 00 titles tor the Spectrum, C64. 
Amstrad, QL. Atari, BBC and Electron Computers 

Software Supplies (HZ.) manufacturers in NZ 
under licence for: Ultimate, Mikrogen, Tasman, 
Bug-Byte. Gilsoft, Kuma, Hisofl. Oasis, and many 
more, so prices can not be beaten, 
Please send SAE for Full Catalogue stating which 
machine to; 



SOFTWARE SUPPLIES (N.Z.), 
P.O. Box 865, Christchurch. 



Trade Enquiries welcome. 






BITS & BYTES - August 1 985 - 55 



SP€CTRUM 



:-:-:■:■::■:--:■;■:■:■■•-. .v.;- v.v ::^;-:::-x>:-x:-r-x-: 



^.™>»:.:.ww/.x---".-.-. 



Of course, since the program has been 
saved as code H you will have to load it 
with LOAD "" CODE, if the first line is 
one of the POKEs discussed, the 
program cannot be broken into once it is 
running either, so you have a foolproof 
system of protecting programs, 

Here is an example you may want to 
try: 

10 POKE 23613,0 

20 PRINT AT 0,0; INK (RND*7); 'test 
program" 



Add line 9999 above, and use GOTO 
9999 to find out where empty memory 
begins - say about 24000 to be on the 
safe side. Then save the program with: 
SAVE "test" CODE 23552, 450: RUN 10 
(450 is roughly 24000-23552)- Now 
load this with LOAD "" CODE. Voita! It 
auto-starts and cannot be broken into. 
However, don't forget that once you 
have saved a program in this way, you 
won't be able to get at it yourself. So 
keep an unprotected saving of longer 
programs for your own use? 



,'.:.:.yv.v.v.v.v^v,v,v ,;,;.;.; :.;.;.:.:-:. : . : .;.>>:.:.:. : .:-:-:::r-:-::;x-:-:- 



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A full size keyboard, equipped with 67 Keys. 

Only $150.00 + $5.00 p&p!! This must 

be the cheapest price in New Zealand!! 

Limited Stocks only. 



BETA BASIC 1.8 



The number one basic extension. 
Only $35.00 + $1 .50 p&p. 



Available now from: l^M^^-^^u^d 



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BINDERS! 

for BITS 8t BYTES 



We now have available 

binders to hold your copies of BITS & BYTES. 

We have opted for the same type of binder 

used last year (pictured) as these provide 
high quality protection in an attractive finish. 
These are available in two styles. 

STYLE 1: With the words "BITS & BYTES, VOL 3, 

September 1984 -August 1985", 
(For those who have a complete volume,) 

STYLE 2: With the words "BITS 8c BYTES" only. 
(For recent subscribers or those with a mixture of volumes) 
Each Binder holds ll magazines 

Order now as stocks are limited!! 
Please use the bookclub order form in the 
centre of the magazine and be sure to 
note which style of wording you require. 



,". T .F.V.WV r .V.V, VrV.V . W.tffr :• ". 

New Atari 

The Atari 1 3QXE, a 128K RAM 
version of the Atari 800XL, was 
released in New Zealand last month, 

The 130XE is fully software 
compatible with the 800XL and 
retails for $659. At the same time r 
Atari's New Zealand agent (Monaco 
Distributors, P.O. Box 4399, 
Auckland) has slashed the 800XL 
price to $429 (previously $699) and 
the Atari disk drive to $549. 

Meanwhile, there is still no word 
on a release date for the Atari 
520ST, the Macintosh-like computer 
expected to sell in USA for $599. 

A prototype model was shown to 
local Atari dealers in June but it 
appears the computer has still not 
been released in USA, and Monaco, 
even if it knows, is not saying when 
it will be released here. 



Unix address 

The correct address for the NZ 
Unix Users Group is P.O. Box 7087, 
Wellesley St Auckland. The address 
was incorrect in our May issue. 

The address regarding member- 
ship of the Unix Group is: The 
Secretary, NZ Unix Users Group, 
P.O. Box 13-056, Hamilton. 



$17.95 EACH 



Cost: $17.95 per binder 




56 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



BBC 



;-:«Wv;v:v;vvv;v; 



;v;-x-;v;^v:.:vrvvx*rv^;*;.;v-^ 



Potentials of vision 



By Pip Forer 



In spite of working with many, 
sometimes more sophisticated 

microcomputer systems, one of the 
constant sources of pleasure from Acorn 
is the ease with which the BBC can 
interface to a wide variety of non- 
standard peripherals. From floor turtles 
to mice and from IEEE laboratory BUSes 
to servo motors, there seem very few 
additions needing more than 1 minutes 
(and occasionally a chip extractor) to get 
working. Usually too, the cost of 
interfacing new equipment is low. 

One expansion option is systems to 
capture real-world images and process 
them on the micro. Such systems are 
available on a limited number of eight-bit 
and an increasing number of 16-bit 
machines. They allow the user to capture 
images directly from the environment, 
normally in black and white and normally 
using modifications of existing photo- 
graphic and video equipment. 

The ideal system has the user pointing 
a camera at a scene or diagram, and the 
image appearing at once on the screen. 
Once there (and also, of course, coded in 
memory), the image can be quickly 
analysed. This analysis can seek to 
detect all areas of a certain brightness 
(say cloud cover on a meteorological 
satellite) and may be used to estimate 
the area of a photograph or image that fit 
this criterion. Equally, the image can be 
scanned for recognisable shapes, such 
as square outlines of houses in an aerial 
photograph. 

These ideas have been extended in 
manufacturing to try to give vision 
capabilities to robots. At the engineering 
school of , Canterbury University, image 
processing with shape recognition is 
being used to try to recognise defective 
kiwi-fruit for grading. Security firms have 
already developed simple alarm systems 
based on comparing consecutive images 
of a view and testing for changes — 
appearance of men in striped jerseys and 
masks, for example. 

Most applied systems are expensive 
and use costly sensors and powerful 
processors. The micro scene offers 
lower cost options, normally in the $200 
to $ 1 000 class, Two common options of 
image capture exist — capture via video 
camera and via light-sensitive RAM. 
Video capture Is most prevalent but also 
costlier. On the BBC, images will 
typically be captured as a 256 by 256 
matrix of dots, each dot coded either on 
a binary scale {on or off) or by grey 
levels, 

Video capture 



Video capture works by taking the 
video image signal (itself composed of a 
matrix of pixels) and sampling it so that 
brightness levels are recorded for each 
pixel in the computer. On video cameras, 
the exposure is quite well controlled and 



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Removeable paper trays enable quick change of forms and you can 
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Must be the TATUNG TVT 6600 range! 

For a dealer near 
you contact - 

Phone (09) 600-687 P.O. 8ox 68-474, Auckland. 




CLAUDE 3GM 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 57 



BBC 



■:w:««ovM«.:.:rcw;v-:<-:-:-:-:-:-^^ 



information on brightness can be 
obtained from the signal in many grey 
levels. However, because of the memory 
needs of colour and the complexity of 
the signal, true colour systems are rare (a 
common trick, used by the Digithurst 
Micro-sight system. Is to get the same 
effect by using filters to extract red, blue 
and green components and then merging 
them). 

The other path to vision is by light 
sensitive RAM (LSR), a matrix of RAM 
cells sensitive to light intensity. Light is 
focussed on an exposed LSR which has 
been primed so that each element in the 
RAM is "on". Prolonged exposure to 
light turns some cells "off". If a suitable 
exposure is used (the micro waits long 



enough between priming and sampling}, 
a black and white image composed of 
patterns of on and off cells can be 
obtained. With suitable adjustments, 
pictures can be captured and, with 
several samples of the same image, grey 
shade levels built up. 

The Commotion MicroRobotics EV1 
system uses this technique, It is 
relatively cheap ($NZ390 in Britain) and 
looks tempting. The RAM is sited in a 
small camera housing behind a Pentax 
lens. For the BBC, the connection is 
made by the user port. The RAM is 
composed of two units, each 128 by 
256, giving a 256 by 256 resolution with 
a "join line" noticeable between the two 
areas. The system takes 30 seconds to 



Ch 



III 



inga 
Payroll System 

i— Read this before you decide — i 



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extras and deductions 

• The TC.S PAYROLL calculates oil tax 
deductions and re coins totals for quick, 
accurate printing of iRi2 la* lorms. 

•The T C S PAYROLL provides for pom ocfive and 
non-active employees 




• The TC.5 PAYROLL allows far a mixlure ol 
different pay Irequencies between employees 

• The T C & PAYROLL calculoies cash 
breakdown and donking spliis, 

• The TCS PAYROLL provides lor rounding of pay 
if required 

• The TCS. PAYROLL was completely wrirlen in 
N.Z. and is fully supported in HI 

• The purpose olfhjs Payroll system is lo provide 
quick, accurate Payroll calculations, keep 
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employer totals lor necessary sox returns 



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a cHniiFon-oi james Electro™^ no 



58 - BITS & BYTES - August 1 985 




CM RETURN COUPON - 



ADDRESS 



install since it comprises just the camera 
and disk-based software. However, is it 
of any real value? 



The software 



The software which comes with it 
offers the user four main programs — a 
simple black/white image grabber; a grey 
scale (auto-exposure controlled) 
grabber; an object recognition package; 
and a movement detection security 
program. The machine language routines 
used by the programs are also fully 
documented to let you patch together 
different routines. It is simple to plug the 
camera into the user port, and boot and 
use any of the programs. 

The time taken to create images may 
be longer than you might expect, A 
simple black-white image can be 
captured in eight seconds in a typically 
well-lit room, with a three-second 
refresh rate. The scanning needed for 
grey scales means the full redraw period 
is about 12-15 seconds, with an initial 
20-second calibration period. The main 
determinant in this is the speed of decay 
in the LSR. The state of the RAM can be 
scanned in a few hundredths of a 
second; the crucial delay factor is the 
exposure tame needed to let adequate 
numbers of cells decay to give a picture. 
This is very lighting sensitive. 

The programs in general work quite 
well. The security and pattern 
recognition systems, while primitive 
compared with professional systems, 
have some nice features, and all the 
programs can be modified to the user's 
needs. Once you have set up your 
camera to capture a suitable image, you 
can get some enjoyable, and even useful, 
results. The pattern recognition program, 
for instance, could easily be modified to 
classify river pebbles by their shape. 

The main problems are not with the 
software but with the hardware — 
getting the best image possible — and 
then the inherently limited quality of 
even this* The LSR sensor is plagued by 
its inflexibility to different light 

Turn to page 76 

More LOGOS & 
Fortran. 

1985 is the year of the new language 
for the BBC, and the first six months 
have seen it emerge as one of the best- 
equipped eight-bit machines in terms of 
the range available. Latest to arrive are 
Logotron LOGO, a fast, one ROM 
implementation, and Fortran under the 
UCSD p^System (for the traditionalist, 
''Fortran fortifies the over-40s"}. 

Compared with Acornsoft's offerings, 
the LOGO seems to gain on speed plus 
its editor (and has a disk version) at the 
cost of some options in its command 
vocabulary. Logotron has promised to 
overcome this deficiency, and add much 
more, through a series of related 
products including a sprite board and 
disk-based extensions to the language. 



COMMODOR€ 



Learning with the Muppets 

By Jeff Whiteside 



Let's look at some of the products 
intended for younger age groups, 

I have recently used (and observed the 
use of) the Muppet Learning Keys, a 
device which plugs into a joystick port. 

This must be by far the best aid for pre- 
and primary schoolers, as it is a whole 
new keyboard with a much more logical 
layout of letters. No more must they 
struggle to find a letter they want 
(although I've seen four-year-olds having 
little difficulty with our cumbersome 
typewriter layout). The Muppets make 
learning fun! 

On the learning keys Is a slate with the 
letters looking as though they were 
written in chalk! And they are laid out in 
alphabetical order (knew my lessons in 
remembering the alphabet would come 
in handy one day!) 

Above the slate is a paintbox showing 
eight colours. Each block of "paint" is a 
button which is pressed to change 
colour. There is even a paintbrush 
pictured! Above that is a ruler with the 
numbers to 9 on it. 

Cursor keys are cleverly represented 
by an "official model" frog scout 
compass, looking as though you could 
pick it up off the board. Above that is a 
pencil eraser (delete key) and a 
mysterious-looking badge with "ZAP" 
marked on it. 

Below the compass is a little comic 
showing four pictures: Kermit on a 
motorcycle with a green light marked 
"GO"; Fozzie in a policeman's hat 
holding up a hand and a "STOP" sign; 
Gonzo being fired out of a cannon 
towards a brick wall shouting "OOPS"; 
Miss Piggy (who can resist her charm?!) 
tied up on a railway track crying "HELP" 
as a train bears down on her! 

Sticky fingers 

The whole unit is very sturdily 
constructed in plastic and appears to be 
durable. And if sticky fingers get all over 
it? Why, then, a damp cloth brings it up 
good as new! 

It comes in with disk-based Muppet 
discovery software providing three 
different "games". 

In the first, a stage is depicted on the 
screen and whenever a letter is pressed, 
a picture appears (and moves, playing 
music, when "START" has been 
pressed). For example, press "K" and 
Kermit appears, waving at you while a 
kite flies in the background. Pressing a 
number displays that number of kites. 
Pressing a colour changes the colour of 
the kite(s) (but not Kermit - a frog is a 
frog is a frog! And besides, Miss Piggy 
might not like him in another colour!) 

Other pictures are of ghosts (and 
Gonzo) H zips, walruses, yoyos, pretzels 
{and Miss Piggy), noses and fire (with 
Fozzie). 

The second game displays one of the 



objects from the first game, The child 
must type in the starting letter of that 
object, and is rewarded with the object 
becoming animated. 

The third game displays several of the 
objects and asks how many? Similar 
rewards are involved. 



Enjoyed it 



Although the keys are recommended 
for children older than three, my 
14-month-old son enjoyed using it. It's 
difficult at the best of times to keep him 
away from the computer but it became 
nearly impossible when he found that 
leaning on the keys in certain places did 
things and played music. He particularly 
enjoyed waving to Kermit and I 
particularly enjoyed wiping the board 
clean afterwards! 

One comment — ft was rather 
distracting looking at the help function 
screen several times. He had a tendency 

CBS arrives 

By Jeff Whiteside 

The excellent CBS software range is 
now available in New Zealand. Several 
programs were produced by the 
Children's Television Workshop and, not 
surprisingly, feature Sesame Street 
characters. 

A novel feature of this software is that 
use is made in some of an "Easykey" 
keyboard overlay designed to make it 
easy for young hands to find their way 
around the keyboard by limiting their 
choice of keys to press. Next best thing 
to the Muppet Learning Keys. My one 
reservation is that occasionally the 
overlay slips, leaving the child wondering 
why the part he pushed before worked 
then and not now. However, readjusting 
it sets things right again. 

The range includes "Big Bird's 
Funhouse", a memory improvement and 
character recognition game which has 
Sesame Street characters hiding behind 
windows, ringing bells, running and 
sliding down a slide into a bucket of 
water! The Count even turns into a bat. 

If the child's choice of a character 
(pictures of them are on the overlay 
along with a yetlow outline of the 
appropriate key) is wrong, Big Bird 
appears (on skates!) and shakes his 
head. There are different types of game 
and levels. 

Also included is "Astro-Grover", 
designed to help wfth numbers and 
arithmetic. Counting the zips saves Earth 
from being invaded by them, and 
completing the "game" successfully 
results in some great up-tempo music 
while Grover appears in a space helmet 
and disco-dances! 

Other titles are "Sea Horse Hide and 
Seek 1 ' (the child has to guide a sea horse 



to lean his elbow on the comic book 
while reaching with his left hand for the 
letters. I can imagine older children doing 
the same. 

I also observed others using the keys, 
and they not only enjoyed them but also 
(more importantly) wanted to use them 
again on other occasions. They became 
noticeably more skilled in the "games" 
too (also important). 

Koals Technologies, the US-based 
manufacturer, deserves to be 
congratulated on a fine product. The only 
detraction it seems to have is that 
additional software is still under 
development and is not yet available. 
Atari users get a utility which allows the 
keys to be interfaced as real keys (but 
not the Muppet Discovery software — 
C64 only). No doubt this facility will be 
extended to Commodore too to allow 
young children to use existing software 
more easily. 

The New Zealand price is $210. 



to a sunken ship, whtle avoiding being 
eaten by hiding in certain areas and 
matching the sea horse's colour}, 
"Ernie's Magic Shapes" (recognition of 
shape and colour) and "Dinosaur Dig" (a 
two-disk exploration of the world of 
dinosaurs for eight-year-olds up which 
teaches names, giving pronunciation 
guides, characteristics, and even 
includes a brief treatise on continental 
drift - wish I'd had one when I was into 
dinosaurs at school!) 

The cost of these programs is about 
$50. 

In a later article I shall go into the 
Spinnaker range of software (also 
excellent children's learning tools). 



Attention 
Commodore Users 



Considering converting to an 
MSDOS based machine but 
cannot afford to loose the 
investment in data files on 
your Commodore, then 
contact us. We have 
considerable experience in 
transferring data between 
Commodore and CP/M or 
PCDOS machines. 

Contact After Hours Software Ltd 
P.O. Box 34-041 
CHRISTCHURCH 5 
Phone 51 9-694 



SITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 59 



COMMODOR€ 



W-MWtt'U-JWW 



'X.Wl'I'l-l'l-.-v.'/.-.-.-.-.'/.'.-.-.'/.v^™';,'.^,',', 



.■.■.•.-.-.-.v.V, . .v. : ,y.-.-.-.-. : . : . : . : . : . .'. v. 



You've got to talk 

By Jeff Whiteside 



Let's take a trip . . . and we don't even 
have to leave the living room (provided 
your computer is in it!!) I am referring to a 
"trip" via satellite to USA and a public 
database called CompuServe. 

First step — we must be a registered 
user of the Post Office's PACNET 
system (a replacement for Oasis 
involving packet switches). The Network 
User Address (NUA) we need is 
0311020200202 (a direct line) or 
0311061400227 [select a host name 
CIS). Of course access codes from 
CompuServe are necessary too. 

Remember the advertisements fn US 
magazines for CompuServe??. Well, 
they're all true. But as the man says, 
"'you ain't seen nothing yet". 

CompuServe is a big database which 
operates rather like a (very) multiuser 
BBS. But the amount of information is 
colossal! It covers news, weather 
(including Hires weather maps), 
electronic shopping, electronic mail, on- 
line mulTJplayer adventure games, stock 
market information, special interest 
groups (including astronomy and rock 
music), computer interest groups and 
the Commodore information network! I 
don't believe any one user could see 
even a cross-section of the information 
on it. 

My experiences centre largely around 
the CIN (Commodore Information 
Network] — an area set up and 
maintained by Commodore, There are 
three forums — C64, Creative Corner, 
and Advanced Programming (including 
telecomms and alternative languages 
such as Comal). You register for each 



separately and are greeted personalty by 
name when you return to each section. 

Data libraries 

The data libraries are a b[g facet. 
These are maintained by Commodore 
(press releases and the like, conference 
transcripts etc) and by the users who 
contribute public domain software, most 
of a very high quality. The selection is 
vast. 

The noticeboards are also vast and 
many are addressed publicly to other 
users. Replies are recorded and you can 
be happily occupied reading several 
replies to an original message. As was 
the case with me when I read about 
Atari's withdrawal from The June 
Consumer Electronics Show. Plenty was 
said about that!! 

But probably the most interesting 
section was the teleconferencing area. 
Here, many people talk to each other at 
once, much like a CB channel. Of course, 
there are some unwritten rules, such as 
avoidance of bad language. In such 
instances, the offender is likely to end up 
with no one else to talk to! 

Sometimes, following the thread of 
conversation is difficult as several 
conversations take place at one. And, as 
you are talking in full duplex, what you 
type is mixed up in whatever is incoming. 
A control character will cause a 
retransmit in the event of undecipherable 
text. 

Fortunately, COing is not as difficult as 
on most occasions — many channels are 




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provided and there is also the facility for 
a one-on-one conversation on which no 
one can eavesdrop. The computer 
becomes sociable again!! Instead of 
isolating people, it is a tool to establish 
communication with people you have 
never met. 

If you get stuck with any use of the 
system or simply want to ask a question, 
there is always at least one SYSOP on 
hand. Commodore thoughtfully provided 
them to help if at all possible. 



Real power 

Probably, the real power of 
teleconferencing is best illustrated by an 
on-line conference held some weeks ago 
featuring the illustrious Jim Butterfield as 
a guest. He was in Toronto and 
questions were asked from all over 
continental USA, 

This is formalised conferencing with a 
SYSOP keeping track of who wants to 
ask a question iyou are allocated a 
number and are prompted for the 
question in order) and a moderator who 
acts as a chairman. Imagine service 
seminars with a Commodore technician 
on line, an adventure tutorial with an 
experienced adventurer or a live aid to 
new computerists! I even noticed an 
advertisement for Arthur C. Clarke 
visiting the Astronomy SIG (special 
interest group). The possibilities are 
endless. 

Let's return to our own shores. Are we 
likely to see such things happening in 
New Zealand? The answer is yes. My 
own opinion is that you out there would 
get very bored with a videotex service 
which did not provide this kind of 
interaction- 
Note the sudden introduction of the 
word, videotex. CompuServe is a form of 
videotex service which operates at 300 
baud with an option of 1 200 baud. Some 
of the things they are doing are not being 
done in England with PresteL Why 
shouldn't we take a leaf out of both 
books and provide an even better service 
here? 

In New Zealand, we are sometimes 
fortunate in being a little behind the 
times. We can learn from other mistakes. 
You will see a rapid growth in 
telecommunications in New Zealand 
over the next year. \ hope to be able to 
keep you informed of new events and 
achievements in this area. 

Buy computer 
books today 

Pass Bits & Bytes 
to o friend 



60 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 






The Great 

^T**i ~M 20, C64, C16 

Commodore 
Software 

^^^^g . & $ in each cates 

Competition 

-^™- There's 



Write a Commodore program and you 




Prizes worth $5000 to be won. 
Special prize for school/class entries. 
Write your own program to run on a Vic 
Plus 4, CBM 4000, or CBM 
8000; and enter in any of three 
categories: 
Best Game, 

Best Education Program, 
Best Home/Business Program. 
Best School/Class Entry. 

Winners in each category will receive 
Commodore equipment or software of their 
choice from the Commodore Computers NZ 
range to the value of $1000. The runners up 
in each category win Commodore equipment 
or software worth $200. 

And three consolation 
prizes of book packs worth 
$50 will be awarded in each 
category. 
There's a separate prize for the best 
specialist program, and the best school class 
entry, plus 5 spot prizes of $50 book packs, 
drawn at random. 

In all, over 20 prizes, worth a total of 
$5000 can be won. 

You can forward as many entries as you 
like, until August 12, 1985 , when the 
competition closes. 

All entries must be on the Official Entry 
Form, available only from your Commodore 
Specialist Dealer. ^ 

Get along to him fast, and you could write 
your own prize list. 




-• 



Eueiywhere you go thetds a Commodore, 



CMP27, 



BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 61 



COMMODORE 

v^--xo>:-:.>xo:.:.sv*x.:.wv.v.^vv.;.-.-.vy.y.^^ 

BASIC tips 

By Graeme Fleming 

Many programmers [myself for 
example) run out of bcain power while 
converting their basic logic to BASIC 
logic. In English, this means sticking 
maths and things into computer 
programs. My examples are in 
Commodore BASIC, any version, but will 
work in any BASIC with a little or no 
conversion. 

First, let's look at string splicing, using 
the commands LEFT$, RIGHTS, MIDS 
and LEN. Example program one shows a 
simple use of these commands which 
should be described in your manual, but 
t hey can be used in a more complex 

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format for other results. 

Let's say you want the user of your 
program to enter three numbers in one 
input, with the numbers separated by a 
space, 23 7 541 or 2 1000 64 for 
example, The program would have to 
extract each of the three numbers 
separately by string splicing. Example 
two does this, incorporating far-next 
loops. It changes the numbers from 
strings to variables using VALue. 

Some months ago, I wrote a program 
on a PB-100 in which the user had to 
enter two numbers as rn example two, 
the second a weight - in kilograms. The 
problem was: some people entered it 
correctly, but some insisted on tonnes, 
so 10000kg became 10.000kg, 

To overcome such a problem, which 
seems to arise from time to time you 
simply need to get a number in between 
the 1 0000 and the 1 0. The number must 
be large enough so that weight entered 
in tonnes never reaches it and too small 
for the weight entered in kilograms to 
reach it either. Example three shows 
this, using 99 as the cut-off point. 

While graphing and performing various 
mathematical functions, I sometimes 
find I have a set of say, five numbers 
from zero to 20, which I want to (trying 
not to be technical) turn upside-down. 
What 1 mean by this is to make any 20s 
into zeros, 19s into ones, 1 8s into twos. 

In example program four, you enter 
five numbers from to 20, and it then 
performs this operation. Note the 
method used in line 30, where A(c) is 
one of your inputs and B(c) its opposite* 
Also note how 1 used two for-next loops 
for three operations, which increases 
speed and takes less memory, See if you 
can shorten it to one, keeping the screen 
neat and tidy. 

Example five is a program which 
figures out the perfect numbers - 
numbers which equal the sum of their 
factors, excluding the number itself. It is 
a little slow, but if left running a while, it 
gets quite a few. 

5 REM #*#* EXAMPLE THREE *#** 
10 INPUr'LitlG'nT" -ti 

20 iF\>iosTKzm*mim% 

30 PRINT PRIHT 11 WEIGHT IN KG IS"U 
4£ PRINT "WEIGHT IN TONNES; IS 1, W/i^ 



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20 rORC^lT03-INPUTfl<C> 

30 SKC>-FKC>*-l+25i'NE*T 

4Pr PORC:-iTO5:PRINTR(C; ,| BEC0riES"BCCVKE^T 

REft|)V» 

s p£m mam example owe **** 

19 INPuT'TVFt THREE LETTERS £ PRESS RETURN" ;fl* 
2d i FLEfJ C A* ) O 3 THEHPR I NT " 7 R V RGR IN ! " : 0OT0 1 6 
36 PJUrlT : -LE"4CR*,l> 1$ "'.-LEFT* :flt, U 

49 pRiNT"Hii!i-w,s. u is M ;nrTJ*cfl*,2ai 

:&, P^IrJT ,| RIOnTt(Rf,l> 1$ ";RI!?HT*<fl*, 13 
G<\ PRINT "LEN<*?*J IS " lBVM> 

*cRTjv. 

3 REM **## EXAMPLE TWO #*** 

16 8*1 f INPUTS* 

26 iFMIM<fl*,E,i)*=" "THEN40 

30 E=E+1 :007Q29 

48 C*B*J 

5S IPPUaKMP.C/l)* 41 M THEN70 

50 C=C4i-O0TQ50 

70 XaVflL<LEFT*<R*jB}> 
86 V=VRL(MIP^^R*/E+i,C-B-D) 
90 Z=VflL(RIGHT*fR*,LE^fl*)H:>]p 
100 PRIHTK : PRINTV-F'RIHT2 

REPDV, 

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?£ FCRB=2TG I HT Cfl/2) 
S3 F0£C=£T0lHT<fl/2> 

40 IFC*B=FITHEHFCC)^1 : FCB)=I 

60 T=l :FORB=?T0R/2- IFF<SS«iTH&JT=T+S 
78 HEKT:IF7sftTHEHPRINTfl; 

80 F0RE=2Tnft. '2- F<B>*@: NEXT : NEXT 



IMPORTANT 

Please include your name 
and address with ALL 
subscriptions and back copy 
orders. 

If you haven't received any 
copies of BITS & BYTES it 
could be because we don't 
have your address! 



Pass Bits & Bytes 
to a friend 



62 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



r 



S€GR 



:<<<<<ttv-v-----*-'- 1 ----y--^^^ 



•\w>>:<<<<<-s.*ysss.-.-.-.-.-.w^^ 



It pays to save regularly 



By Dick Williams 

It's time to go further with the Sega 
disk drive model SF7000, Here is the 
program from last month which you may 
have already tried. 

This is to save to random file: 
10 A$= "JJM J ' 
20 OPEN "DATA" AS # 1 
30PUT#1, 1; A$ 
40 CLOSE 

This is to read from random file: 
50 INPUT "PRESS CR"; K$ 
60 OPEN "DATA" AS #1 
70 GET#1, 1;A$ 
80CLOSE:PRINT A$ 
90L-LEN(A$):PRI!MTL 

This program is for demonstration 
purposes only. It will put JIM on the disk 
and it wifl read JIM back. Line 50 is there 
to provide a break between saving and 
reading. 

When you run the program, line 80 will 
print JIM on screen and line 90 will print 
the length of JIM, Did you get length of 
JIM as 255? This is not an error; it's one 
of the very important problems that can 
occur when writing and reading with a 
disk drive unit. 

Obviously, JIM is not 255 long 
because it has only three visible 
characters. You would expect it to have 



a length of 3, What went wrong? Have a 
close look at the string, A$, printed on 
the screen. It says JIM. Nothing wrong 
with that because in line 10, we defined 
A$ as JIM. 

Underneath JIM, we have the length of 
JIM printed as 255, Notice that the 
length is printed immediately below JIM. 
If AS were really 255 long, you would 
expect six or seven blank lines before the 
length was printed, 

We still don't know whether A$ is 3 or 
255 long, but there is a way to test it. If 
As is really 255 long, then adding one 
more character would make it 256 long 
and, as you know, the Sega won't allow 
strings longer than 255. 

So we have A$ read from the disk and 
showing a length of 255, Type (in direct 
mode} B$ = "Z": PRINT A$+8$. 

Doing this, you will find the "string too 
long" error message printed on screen. 

Need for care 

It does appear that under certain 
circumstances of saving and reading via 
the disk, a short string can be turned into 



a long string. But more importantly, it 
still looks on screen as though it is a 
short string. This can cause a lot of 
trouble to anyone not familiar with this 
kind of problem. Remember I deliberately 
omitted details from the code to show it. 

Line 30 in the save to disk program 
reads 
30PUT#1 H 1;A$ 

Notice there are no position indicators 
after A$. 

Last month, I gave details about the 
use of position indicators to place A$ (or 
any other string) on the disk at a precise 
location within a file record. In the 
following examples, A$ still refers to JIM 
because it's short and simple, has an 
obvious length of 3 and H since you 
already know the answer, it becomes 
much easier to check your disk efforts. 

Alter line 30 to read 
30PUT#1, 1; L,0,8; A$,8,L 

I have placed L, the length indicator at 
position and allocated eight bytes for it 
because the manual states that variables 
take eight bytes. These bytes are used 
(01234567), so the next free position is 
byte number 8, This is where I have 
placed the starting position for A$, and 
for L number of bytes further on. 



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Duplicate this code fn the get line and 
add L=L£N(A$) in line 1 and you should 
then be able to save A$ on the disk and 
read it back. It should also show the 
correct length of 3 + 



Three choices 



If you now wish to save another string, 
you have three choices — save it in the 
same record as A$ CI}; place it in the 
next record number (2); or save it in any 
record number while remembering there 
is a limit to the number of random file 
records that can fit on the disk. 

If you decide to save further data in 
record (1 J, it must be after A$. How do 
you work out where it should go? 

You might say that since A$ starts at 8 
and finishes at 1 (8 9 1 0), you would be 
quite safe in saving a new string (say B$) 
at position 1 1 . Unfortunately, this is not 
correct. With the specific A$ I have been 
using, it would be OK, But what say As 
happened to be 5 or 10 long? The best 
plan is to decide on the maximum length 
which A$ is allowed to be, then you can 
quite safely save other strings further 
along in the record. Here is a program, to 
show the basic idea. 



REtf NAME 
PEn FGDRESS 
REM TOWN 

REn phone 
REn SALE 

REn BALANCE 



5 REfl 15 ' 

10 |MFI*-""HPRUET K D ' 

15 AD*^''10 ARCHER ST---' 

20 TNS-"PUKEKOHE ' 

25 FH -1Z34 5 
30 SA -203, 15 
35 BA -20,75 

30 Input -sfluE to disc >* ;m 

35 OPEN "SFiLEDATfV AS s\ 

53 PUTwl t 1 ;MA*,0, 15JADs t 15, 15 ;TN*. 3A, | 

5;PH.50JSP-, £0;BA, ?0 

55 CLOSE 

60 INPUT "REftO >R0ri DISC ";K£ 

55 OPEN "SFiLEOftTfV AS a[ 

70 GElifUl iNpt.0, 15;*ps, 15, ]'5;TN*.5&i I 

5)PHi50;5fl ? £B,BA»7B 

75 CLOSE 

B8 INPUT"PR]NT DATA ' ;KS :PR InT :PR1 NT 

85 PRINT N^*,^DS 

S3 PRJisiT Tn*>-PhDnE ";Ph 

35 PRINT "SALES ;SF>, ■■BALANCE « ;0A 

You can see that the name string, 
NA$, has been set at a length of 15. 
Some names will be shorter and the 



balance of the string is filled with 
dashes. This makes it easy to identify as 
a padded string in case you have to do 
some processing on it later in a program. 

Quite easy 

Sequential files are, by their very 
nature, quite easy to use and, wfth the 
exception of the append mode, act in a 
similar manner to any other print in 
sequence code. For example, this 
program would print a series of strings 
ON SCREEN 
30 FOR P=1 TO 50 
40 PRINT A$(PJ 
50 NEXT 

Adding a few extra lines we get: 
20 OPEN "ADATA" FOR OUTPUT AS #1 
30 FOR P=1 TO 50 
40 PRINT #1, A$(P) 
50 NEXT 
60 CLOSE 

Two extra lines (20 and 60] and an 
alteration to line 40 and there it is. Very 
easy to use and once you have created a 
data file from one program, you can read 
that file back into another program. 

This makes it easy to save valuable 
data (strings or variables) in bulk and 
create several programs to process the 
data in various ways. Sequential fifes are 
more suitable for storing lots of short 
pieces of data because each item of data 
is stored right after each other with no 
wasted disk space. 

One difficulty with sequential files is 
that since the file has to be open for the 
period of a save, there is an ever-present 
risk of the power failing halfway 
through. 

This should be taken into account 
when planning your disk save methods. 
Saving data to a disk is relatively easy. 
Saving data to disk reliably is a different 
story. 

Imagine how you would feel if you 
were halfway through saving your most 
valuable data, and the power failed, 
someone accidentally pulled the plug, or, 
as can easily happen, the disk went off 
line because of a blip on the power 
supply. 

The file would be incomplete and it is 
not easy to coax a half-written file to 
give up its contents. Some of the data 
would have been lost and there would be 
no easy way to reconstruct it. 



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Right balance 

By striking the right balance between 
the use of random and sequential files, it 
is possible to considerably reduce the 
likelihood of total or partial data loss 
through power failure during a save 
routine. 

It takes the disk one second to get the 
disk motor up to speed and have 
everything ready to save data to a 
random file. It may take a further four 
seconds or so to actually write one 
record in a file, and a further second to 
close the file. 

This gives a total of about six seconds 
and it is during this period with the disk 
file open that data could be lost. If you 
use the disk, say 10 times per hour, you 
would be at risk for 60 seconds in the 
hour. 

Contrast this with a sequential fife 
which may be open for between 20 
seconds and five minutes at a time. A 
power failure or power disturbances 
during this file open period could destroy 
all the data. 

At work, we use the disk random fjles 
to save data as sales are made and the 
random files are transferred to a 
sequential file either at night or next day, 
This gives the speed and relative safety 
of the random files at the time and sales 
data is recorded, as well as efficient disk 
storage offered by the sequential files. 

To be as safe as possible, I copy the 
working disk frequently, and we also 
have a printer making a paper back-up 
copy. 

We haven't had a power failure for 
months but we have had the disk stop 
because of turning on something on the 
same power circuit. This used to happen 
every day and was quite a serious 
problem. 



No problem 



We found a computer inline mains 
interference suppressor stopped this 
problem. We also found no problem in 
leaving disks in the drive when it is 
switched off at night and on again next 
morning. 

Some disk drive manufacturers warn 
against doing this. But we found no 
warning in the Sega disk book and so far, 
have experienced no problems. 

Our Sega disk drive at work runs all, 
day, seven days a week and would be 
used about 10-30 times an hour, 
sometimes more on a busy day. We fill 
up one disk per month with sales data 
and I have a program to compile the 
essential details from each month's disk 
so that we can see any trends in 
customer purchases and make sure the 
appropriate stock is on hand or on order. 

There is more work associated with 
running a computer but, to balance out 
the extra effort, we now get reliable 
sales information from the computer and 
disk when we want it. 



64 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



TfiNDV/SVST€M 80 



-.-. v, .-.-. -.-.- .... -.-.-.-:.: 



.■.■.-/.-.■.■.■.'.■.-.v.'.'A'.v.'.'.'.'AV.V.'^V.VV 



A powerful DOS 



By Gordon Findlay 

The continuing saga of TRS80 disk 
operating systems divides into two main 
streams at this point. TRSDOS, Newdos 
in its various incarnations, Multidos and 
other, less important operating systems 
are joined by a group of operating 
systems which differ significantly in 
philosophy. 

Two new terms — device 
independence and device drivers — 
indicate the prime areas of difference. 
My exampfe is LDOS, written by Logical 
Systems, and later, in a slightly modified 
form, adopted by Tandy as 
TRSDOS 6.2, This was a major change 
in attitude by Tandy, and indicates the 
degree of disenchantment which had 
built up with its own in-house and 
contract efforts. It also indicates perhaps 
that LDOS is a very full-featured system. 

LOOS is a system which can be 
appreciated and used at different levels. 
It is powerful enough to look after the 
beginner, demonstrating the simplicity 
which is an indication of real 
sophistication in software. A beginner 
will find it a most forgiving system. 

It also offers the advanced 
programmer a very firm, reliable and 



stable environment to work in, and 
supplies a powerful job control language, 
JCL, which can be used to construct a 
"shed" around a software package to 
make the whofe operating system 
invisible, and inaccessible if for use by 
non-computerate users. 

In other words, LDOS has many levels 
at which interaction with the user may 
occur. 

New concept 

Device drivers and filters are possibly a 
new concept to the TRS80 fraternity. 
The operating system must com- 
municate with peripherals such as disk 
drives, keyboards, screens and printers 
through some software. 

In TRSDOS, and many others, this 
piece of software, called a dnver, is built 
into the operating system, and cannot be 
easily changed, LDOS uses the concept 
of external drivers, which are separate 
rather than built into the DOS itself, 
These are readily customised to 
whatever is required. Naturally, drivers 
are supplied for keyboard, display, drives 



RS232 and printer, but the degree of 
flexibility is enormous. 

I would not attempt to summarise the 
LDOS documentation here, but as an 
example, the keyboard driver supplied 
may be used. This allows the activation 
or not as desired of a type-ahead buffer, 
a screen print, setting the auto-repeat 
rate, and the deiay before repeat starts. 
The full range of TRS80 characters, 
including the graphics codes, may be 
typed, using the (CLEAR), or (CLEAR) 
and {SHIFT) keys. 

A filter is another piece of software, 
inserted temporarily or permanently 
between the device and a driver. 
Examples in conjunction with the 
keyboard driver can turn the keyboard 
into the Dvorak layout, or provide a "key 
stroke multiply" feature, which allows 
phrases, stored in a disk file, to be 
associated with each of the alphabetic 
keys. This can save a lot of typing! 

The use of filters and drivers allows 
the configuring of LDOS to a staggering 
degree of variety. The system can be set 
up exactly as you want it. Changing also 
becomes very easy — if you sometimes 
use a different printer, you can adjust 



Don't worry 



Since developing the first commercial computer tape 
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output appropriately by changing the 
associated filter, or for minor changes 
altering the supplied filter, which for the 
printer device has 1 1 parameters, such 
as the left margin, length of page, 
characters per line etc. 

Difficult 

Device independence is a difficult 
concept at first, but very powerful in 
practice. Forget any difference between 
devices such as a printer, and disk files. 
The use of the LINK and DEVICE 
commands in tandem with each other 
allows truly flexible use of the system. 
Printer output may be rerouted to a disk 
file, to two printers, or to a modem , . , 
keyboard input may be sent to the 
printer, a disk file, down the line through 
a modem . , . the possibilities are 
endless. 

The use of external drivers and filters 
means the DOS uses some of high 
memory. Naturally, the system itself, 
and its supplied utilities, respect this 
use, but care must be taken with other 



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software. 

Associated with LDOS is a version of 
disk BASIC called LBASIC. This is a more 
powerful BASIC than is common on the 
'80 although missing some features of, 
say, DOSPLUS BASIC. 

LDOS needs to be configured before 
use with your hardware, but this is 
straightforward. The system config- 
uration may be changed, temporarily or 
permanently, using simple commands. 

I have found one inconvenience. It 
does not seem to be possible to boot 
LDOS from a double-sided diskette. You 
have to boot from a singfe-sided disk, 
then swap disks and "fog it on" to 
establish double-sided operation. 

LDOS has numerous other features, 
many of them extensions of TRSDOS 
commands. The use of partial file names 
is extended in LDOS, so it is possible to 
get a directory, or to copy or kill all files 
with extension "VBAS" say, or all files 
with names containing a particular 
phrase. 

Features include such things as a "job 
tog" to record what is done, a spooler, a 



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powerful build command, and the 
"memory" command which will not only 
reserve memory but clear, display or edit 
RAM, 



Utilities 



Utilities with LDOS include BACKUP, 
to copy whole disks; CMDFILE, for 
tape/disk transfers; FORMAT, a 
communication program; LCGMM, a 
patch utility; doubler support; and other 
less important files. 

Documentation is extensive, well 
written and complete, There are 
extensive examples of almost all the 
library commands and use of the utilities, 
and full documentation of DOS routines 
for the assembly programmer, LDOS 
runs on any model I or 111, and in its 
TRSDOS guise, on the model IV. 

Through use of the supervisor call 
table, it is possible to ensure software 
compatibility with afl versions of LDOS. 
Documentation of both advanced and 
simple features is of an extremely high 
standard. As well as the supplied 
documents, which fill a large ring binder, 
a quarterly journal is published, 
discussing the system and other topics. 

Several sets of "toolbox" programs 
and utilities have also been marketed, 
although I haven't seen them in action. 
The level of support is most impressive. 

The review copy of LDOS was 
supplied by Molymerx Ltd (P.O. Box 
601 52, Titirangi). The system retails for 
$215, which compares favourably with 
its price in USA when exchange rates are 
considered. 



Help! 



Now, a plea for help. Several people in 
Chnstchurch, including myself, are 
interested in an interpreter for the C 
programming language, written and 
marketed by Tiny-C Associates, of 
HoJmdale, New Jersey, USA. We've 
written more than once to the firm, but 
without reply — it seems to be defunct. 
Can anybody help us with information 
about Tiny-C? Please write to me, either 
c/- Bits and Bytes, or at 87 Somerfield 
St, Christ church 2. 

Good news . . . 

News recently that the Tandy 
multiuser system has become one of the 
biggest selling Xenix (like Unix) systems 
in USA. The model 2000 and the 1200 
also seem to be doing, if not well, at least 
"OK". 

. . . and bad 

Infocom, which authored the best text 
adventures ever (the likes of Zork I, II and 
III, Deadline, Starcross and Suspended) 
has advised me it is discontinuing its 
software in Model I format, and there 
isn't much left. Several of the recent 
games, such as the Hitchhikers Guide to 
the Gafaxy, Seastalker and Suspect, 
don't seem to have been released in M1 
format. 



66 - BITS & BYTES - August 1935 



IWl€ 



This is progress? 

By John MacGibbon 



Wrt&xm&jttxivsss^ 



Apple's new ProDOS is bringing us 
welcome benefits, or so we're led to 
believe. One benefit claimed for this 
awkward cow of an operating system is 
faster working programs. 

OK then. So why can't someone write 
a halfway decent spelling checker for my 
newfangled, ProDOS style, word 
processor files? 

The other day I put a 2225 word article 
on a DOS text file through my ancient 
(1982), Sensible Speller 3.0. I timed how 
long it took to get the file, count the 
words and compare it against the 
dictionary* 

Crusty ol' Sensible Speller 3,0 zipped 
through the job in 69 seconds. Not bad. 

Then I converted the article to an 
AppleWorks file and put it through a 
friend's newer Sensible Speller for 
ProDOS. Faster still? Well not exactly; it 
clocked up 149 seconds — more than 
double the DOS 3,3 version time. 

Not only that. Using the program was 
decidedly messy. It required a 
knowledge of ProDOS conventions for a 
start. A friendly little number! 

Anyway, having negotiated the first 
part of the checker, I thought I should at 
least add some Kiwi words to the 



Tortuous 



dictionary disk. So I followed the 
tortuous instructions, and was finally 
invited to build my enhanced dictionary 
on a new pre-formatted disk. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't given the 
option of doing it on both my disk drives. 
"Put the old dictionary in the drive/put 
the new dictionary in the drive/old/ 
new/old/new" on and on it went. Must 
have been at least 50 swaps before I 
gave up and bowed to American spellin'. 

There has got to be a better way, i told 
myself as I trotted off to a friendly 
computer store in search of other 
ProDOS spelling checkers. There was 
only one on offer — MegaWorks, by the 
Megahaus people. Now they have glossy 
ads in A+ and InCider. Should be good; 
and a snip at $300. 

A snip? Well, in weak defence of this 
hefty price, I should point out that the 
program also does mail merging — not 
that I often feel an urge to merge (mail 
that is, Hortense). 

I brought out my 2225 word file and 
booted up Megaworks with eager 
anticipation. This early in the financial 



Long wait 



year, the office budget could easily stand 
$300 for a realfy worthwhile product. 

Right from the start things looked 
better, The screen format was almost 
identical to AppleWorks, and you didn't 
have to pussyfoot about with 
pathnames. 

But wait. . . and wait, . . and wait. . . 

And wait b some more. To be exact, 
wait for 568 seconds. Shiny new 1 
MegaWorks did the job, and it took only 
eight times longer than my antediluvian 
Sensibfe Speller 3.0, running on 
obsolescent DOS 3.3 

This is progress? 

I didn't wait to try mega merging. 



Pass Bits fit Bytes 
to a Friend 



Perfect timing 



By Fred & Alex Wong 

One of ProDOS' more useful and less 
publicised functions is its ability to time 
and date-stamp documents and 
programs in conjunction with a real time 
clock/calendar peripheral card. This is 
particularly useful in business 
applications as ft will note automatically 
(as in AppleWorks) when a file was last 
modified. 

The Time-Piece Clock card, from 
Innovative Computer Systems (maker of 
the Innova Drive), is designed 
specifically to work with ProDOS and 
programs such as AppleWorks. 

The Time-Piece is a nicely 
manufactured card that contains, 
besides the usuaf bits and pieces to make 
it go, three rechargeable button-sized 
NiCad batteries that keep the time, 
regardless of the state of the Apple. 
When the Apple is on, these batteries are 
trickle-charged and provided they are full 
to begin with, will keep going for three 
months without another charge. 

A very well protected Apple style box 
also contains the operating manual and a 
utilities disk. The card may be installed 
very easily by plugging into any slot 
except the auxiliary slot. 

To use the Time-Piece clock card with 
a Pro-DOS-based program like Apple- 
Works is simplicity itself. Boot up 



AppleWorks as usual. Then, instead of 
staring up at the calendar (as Fred and I 
both do), simply type RETURN when 
prompted. 

All the files worked with will display 
not only the date they were saved to disk 
but also the time, down to the minute! 
It's quite a change to see so many entries 
in the previously empty time column - 
which gives a much clearer picture of my 
strange work habits, as well as the state 
of progress of my projects. 



Four programs 



There are four programs on the utility* 
disk. Three of them are written in 
Applesoft and demonstrate how the 
Time-Piece may be programmed from 
BASIC. They read and display the time in 
ASCII string format, set the time and 
date and determine which slot the card is 
in. Any or all of these, which make 
generous use of embedded ProDOS 
commands, can be used in other BASIC 
programs. 

The last program on the disk is written 
in assembly language [with which the 
card can also be programmed) and 



displays the date and time to each 
second, using the Time-Piece's interrupt 
capability. 

The Time-Piece card can generate up 
to four interrupt rates - 1024Hz, 1Hz, 
each minute and each hour. Interrupts 
are enabled by switching one of the four 
DIP switches on the card and are 
generated from either Applesoft or 
assembly language, 

By the way, I have no idea what 
interrupts are used for, but Fred intones 
some mysterious words - "multi-tasking 
and other stuff!" 

The Time-Piece comes with a 
tastefully produced manual that is short 
and to the point. It doesn't have fancy 
diagrams, colour or pictures but does 
have a large amount of technical 
programming information useful to 
everyone. It also contains a tutorial on 
installation and use of the utility 
programs. 

The Time-Piece clock card is highly 
desirable hardware. In a business 
environment {where time becomes a 
much more important factor than at 
home) using ProDOS-based applications 
especially/ it would be a great asset. 
With a competitive price of $270 (as 
opposed to $600 for a Thunder-Clock), it 
isn't a great deal to spend. 

BfTS & BYTES - August 1985 - 67 



COMPUTER BOOKS 



USING & PROGRAMMING 
THE MACINTOSH 

Including 32 ready-to-run 

programs. 

Frederick Holtz TAB Books $40.95. 

A thorough description of the Mac. It's a 
two in one book. The second part teaches 
you Microsoft BASIC. This version of 
BASIC is an industry standard. 

CONTROL THINGS WITH 
YOUR TIMEX SINCLAIR 

Robert Swarts 

dilithium Press. £30.95, 

Swarts tells you how, with only your trusty 
soldering iron and some inexpensive 
components from shops, you can get your 
ZX80 or ZX81 to: monitor trip switches on 
doors and windows while you sleep; warm 
the house; wake you up ..and MUCH 
more. Definitely a book for the electronics 
hobbyist. 

COMPUTERS DON'T BYTE 

Mary Mathew & Rita Parkinson. 

Resource Books. $9.95. 

First published as a series of articles in the 
NZ Herald and the Christchurch Press, 
this book was commissioned with the idea 
of giving parents a chance of catching up 
with their kids in computer awareness'. 
It's easy to read, has funny pictures and 
was written for ISJZers by NZers. 

WHICH PERIPHERALS? 

Piers Letcher 
Chapman & Hall/Methuen. $24.95. 

Peripherals are all the bits you plug into a 
computer; monitor, printer, cassette 
recorder, disk drive, joy stick, robots, 
mice... and MORE. Under one cover this 
book provides an up-to-date review of 
gear available for the main home 
computers. 

INSTANT FREEZE-DRIED 
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING 
IN BASIC 

Jerald Brown 

dilithium Press. $39.95. 

An excellent book on BASIC programming 
for the novice. The illustrations are very 
amusing yet the text is a highly informative 
introduction to BASIC. The active 
participation' workbook is well worth 
working through. 



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BOOKS 

Three for the technician 



v%>x->x*:Wv:v:-:-x-:-:'^^^ 



Microelectronic Systems — 
Level I by P. Cooke. Technician 
Education Council in associa- 
tion with Hutchinson. 184pp. 
$15, 75. Microelectronic 

Appreciation — Level HI by Glyn 
Martin. Technician Education 
Council in association with 
Hutchinson. 1 12pp. $ 1 7. 50. 
Microelectronic Principles — 
Level IV by Glyn Martin and 
Nick Heap. Technician 

Education Council in 

association with Hutchinson. 
268pp. $24.50. Reviewed by 
Gerrit Bahlman. 

These three books, part of a series 
of microelectronics/microprocessors 
published by Hutchinson on behalf of 
the Technical Education Council, 
stem from an expressed concern that 
the introduction of computer tech- 
nology in the workplace would leave 
technicians bereft of the skills 
needed to adapt to them. The British 
Department of Industry con- 
sequently encouraged the develop- 
ment of educational programmes to 
meet this need. 

Significantly, the Department of 
Industry was sufficiently concerned 
to encourage the introduction of 
computers to British secondary 
schools to ensure ail high school 
students were given the all important 
background to the new technology. 
Interestingly, the Department of 
Education both in Britain and New 
Zealand has shown itself unable 
to embrace the requirements 
as enthusiastically as the British 
Department of Industry, 

The British educational emphasis 
on the new technology is remarkably 
technical. Even in the high schools 
the emphasis is on building and 
constructing rather than simply 
using. The books reflect this. 

"Microelectronic Systems — Level 
I", the first in a series of three 
introducing the idea of micro- 
computer based systems, uses a 
physical approach detailing everyday 
mechnical systems, measurement 
transducers, and controllers. Each 
chapter has associated questions to 
ensure the concepts have been 
grasped. 

The approach is rigorous and 
demanding. There is no doubt the 
book is intended for serious study 
and it not light reading for the 
vaguely interested. This first text 
covers basic systems, ana- 
logue/digital systems, micro- 



electronic components, peripherals, 
microcomputer hardware and 
programming using the 6500 
instruction set. 

"Microcomputer Appreciation — 
Level III" follows on from the 
systems sequence but takes a 
pragmatic line in examining how 
microprocessors may be used. The 
author expresses the concern that 
the book will provide an indication of 
the potential of the microprocessor 
to provide a basic background for 
technicians in modern industry. 

Once more, the emphasis is clearly 
on assembly programming aspects 
without getting too deeply into the 
architecture and programming. The 
intention is to retain the perspective 
that the applications are governed by 
essentially simple principles. Jargon, 
such as RAM, ROM, EPROM etc, is 
dealt with in detail as are concepts 
such as device interrupts. Once 
more, a text book that demands 
study and not in the light-reader 
category. 

"Microprocessor Principles — 
Level IV" follows on from the two 



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68 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



BOOKS 



*:.-.v.wa'.-.-^v.'.:.'.v,:.:.-.'av.:.:.:^v,'.-.-.v.v.'.-.v.v.:. i .w. 1 .:-:. 



books in the "Microprocessor 
Appreciation" series. Its avowed 
intent is to extend the student's 
ability to develop and use software 
at the machine code level, using the 
Intel 8080/8085 type of processor 
for practice, to develop a student's 
comprehension of microelectronics 
devices, enable a student to appraise 
transducers and controllers; and 
introduce a student to maintenance 
requirements of microprocessor 
controlled systems. 

Clearly aimed at the technician, 
the three books are an integral part 
of a detailed course of study and are 
used by the British Open University. 
In all, there are seven books in the 
course and from this sample, it is 
clear that mastery of all seven would 
provide an extensive background to 
anyone wishing to become familiar 
with the application of micro- 
processors to industry. 

Logo variety 

88 Apple Logo Programs by Mitchell 
Watte, Don Martin, Jennifer Martin. 
Published by Howard W, Sams and Co, 
1984 r Pp422. Reviewed by Gordon 




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This volume contains detailed 
development and sample runs of a 
number of Logo programs, both short 
and long. Considerable emphasis is 
placed on careful coding of programs in a 
— dare 1 say it — "well structured" way, 
and on making programs user-friendly. 

Several programs are utility or 
procedures for inputs of various sorts, 
for text and screen manipulation, and for 
arithmetical manipulations such as 
rounding. The main programs cover 
turtle graphics, short and long games, 
graphs, data filing, and so on. 

Appendices include a summary of 
Logo commands, ASCII tables, 
managing the work space and handling 
the programs on disk (apparently 
available from the publisher). A final 
appendix suggests ways of further 
improving the programs, particularly in 
their interaction with the user* 

Few books contain such a variety of 
programs in Logo, and this is the only 
one I have seen which develops lengthy 
programs outside the Turtlegraphics 
field. Each program is explained 
carefully, with structure diagrams and 
sample runs. Recommended for those 
who want to go beyond the turtle, but 
within the friendly Logo environment. 



Micro-mainframe links 

Skellerup Microsystems Ltd (P.O. 
Box 19-648, Christchurch) has a 
number of new products in the area 
of micro/mainframe integration. 

The systems include a facility for 
Burroughs mainframe computers to 
allow fifes to be extracted and 
interchanged with spreadsheet and 
database software running on most 
popular micro-computers. 

Terminal emulation has been 
around for some time but the newer 
products in this area support what is 
known as virtual disk technology — 
the facility where programs running 
on micro-computers can use the 
power of the micro-computer's 
operating system to treat mainframe 
data storage areas as additional 
micro disk drives. Separate virtual 
disk areas in the mainframe can be 
set aside for public and private 
(secure use). 

Data stored in a "public" disk can 
be shared freely by many micro- 
users, while data stored in "private" 
disk can be restricted as required. 
These mainframe disk areas can be 
described as surrogate "hard disk" 
areas which can eliminate the need 
to invest in costly hard disk units. 

Skellerup is working on a set of 
software to allow IBM, Burroughs 
B21 and 82 5, or Wang micros to act 
as terminals to Burroughs or Sperry 
mainframe computers. 



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BITS & BYTES - August 1985 - 69 



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HnRDwnirc Review 

From page 20 

has a numeric keypad. It would have 
been very nice if the keyboard had 
rubber feet so that it did not slide 
when the desk is bumped, or the 
typist becomes over-enthusiastic. 

The NZPO connection 

There are two major differences 
between the Bond well Model 14 and 
16. One is that the Model 16 has a 
built-in hard disk; the other is that 
the Model 16 also sports a direct 
connect modem and has terminal 
software built in to allow it to make 
full use of this facility. The modem's 
role is to connect two computers 
together via New Zealand Post 
Office telephone lines. The modem 
translates between the digital signals 
used by the computer and the 
analogue signals used by the 
telephone equipment. At the time of 
writing, Bondwell was seeking type 
approval from the Post Office for use 
of their modem. 

The modem's* features include: 
300 baud rate; full duplex; CCITT 
V.21 or Bell 103 compatible; 
automatic answer and originate 
operations; analogue or digital 
loopback for self test; pulse or tone 
dialling (software selectable); voice 



Multimate 3.3 release 

Skellerup Microsystems Ltd, (P.O. 
Box 19-648, Christchurch) has 
released version 3.30 of the 
MuftiMate word processing package. 

This version includes an English 
dictionary and the printing option of 
proportional spacing. 

MultiMate's format can now be 
converted to send MultiMate files via 
modems, transferring files to and 
from the IBM Displaywriter and other 
computers, and from popular spread- 
sheet and database applications. 

Screen colours may now be 
customised, the merge utility has 
been improved, there is keyboard 
macro utility, automatic repagination 
of header and footers, multiple 
document directories, and an option 
to create automatic backups. 



New Apple head 

Maf Thompson, former sales 
manager of CED Distributor, the sole 
distributor of Apple computers in 
New Zealand has been appointed 
general manager of the company. He 
takes over from Mike Lord. 



.'.'/.^■.•.■/.•.'.'.'.■.■.■.■.'.■.'.'.■.■.■.■.•/.•..■.■.■.■.v 



(through telephone handset) or data 
selectable; expandable to 1 200bd by 
modem chip replacement. 

The Model 16 has an RS232C 
port, a parallel Centronics printer 
port, modem and telephone ports 
and a port for connecting on a further 
video monitor. These input/output 
facilities certainly allow for flexibility 
and this computer can be used with 
most printers. 

The Bondwell computer range is 
distributed in New Zealand by Orchid 
Trading Co (5 Fleming St, Onehunga, 
Auckland). The latest retail price for 
this powerful computer is $NZ5995, 
making it an extremely competitive 
package. The Model 16 carries a 
three-month no-cost-to-the-cust- 
omer guarantee, and is marketed 
through Andas computer stores. 
Service contracts are available 
through ORCHID or NCR Ltd. 

It is a little unfortunate that the 
documentation is so sketchy and a 
"suck it and see approach/ 1 often 
needs to be used. Let's hope this can 
be rectified. 

This computer must be a very 
attractive package for many 
businesses. The Winchester disk, 
together with the modem and 
extensive software in a portable 
computer, is good value indeed. 



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BITS a BYTES - August 1985 - 71 



The BITS 6 BVTES Computer 

Club 




■ 111 



BACK TO BASICS... 



With this 



I Clive Prigmore 



wl 



half-dozen 



THE BASIC 
.EXPLORER 





Buy any ONE and 
SAVE $5 

Buy any TWO and 
SAVE $6 on each 

Buy any THREE and 
SAVE $7 on each 



The BASIC Explorer for the Commodore 64 

Lee Berman & Ken Leonard 

Combination of suspense novel and instructional tefct. It 

teaches introductory programming in BASIC. Elements of 

Commodore &4 BASIC and the thought processes that 90 

Into designing 6 computer program to solve a problem are 

introduced through the adventures of three modern-day 

explorers. 

McGraw-Hill Our normal price $29.95, 

The Complete Programmer: A Guide to Better 
Programming in BASIC Mike James 

Explains what's needed to make a program "user-friendly". 
Emphasises good program structure end gives key 
information on data types and data structures to help you 
translate ideas into workable programs. Tips on sorting and 
searching methods, creating graphics, achieving 
"randomness" to make games, even recursion. Plus testing 
and debugging methods. *■*-«■ 

Prentica Hall Our normal price $46,35 

Armchair BASIC: An Absolute Beginners' Guide 
to Programming in BASIC Annie & David Fox 

Introduction which blends many examples and illustrations in 
a good-humoured anamination of programming concepts — 
and you don't need a computer to learn. Takes you through 
fundamentals of BASIC programming, shows you how a 
computer can use your input to produce useful results and 
presents a glimpse rnto the computer future - 
McGraw-Hill Our normal price $29,95. 

30-Hour BASIC (Spectrum, Ortc edsl 

Clive Prigmore 
Simple, self -instructional course, teaching you good 
programming techniques; how to keep, order and sort files, 
records and directories: how to print Fetters and addresses; 
how to invent computer games: how to handle numbers and 
so on. Special chapter on using the Spectrum's colour, sound 
and graphics. 

Our price $29.95. 




R teach-yourself course in 
writing computer programs 



r h T T!lri1 



~!"1 ' 




Hands-On BASIC for the DEC Professional 

Herbert Peckham 

Provides computer experience through a series of guided 
activities, each followed by a discussion of the BASIC topic 
just explored. Includes sections on graphics and files. 
McGraw-Hill Our normal price $60*95 

Beginners' BASIC Clive Prigmore 

Teach-yourself, step-by-slep guide to programming which 
can be used with the ZX81, Spectrum, QL. VIC -20, 
Commodore 64, Qric 1, Dragon 32 and 64. Apple He. 
TRS-BQ, BBC, Electron, Lynx, Tl 99/4A, and Atari 400. 
600XL and 800- Contains many worked examples and 
exercises, and can be used without a computer. 
Wind wa r . 1 u r n o rm a I price $39.95, 



72 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 






TH€ BITS & flYTCS BOOK CLUB 



IBM PC Programming 

Richard Heskell & Glenn A. Jackson 

Hands-on, steo'bvslep approach \qi beginning and advanced 
programmers Uses actual photographs taken from [he 
computer screen in graphic examples lo develop many 
fundamental programming c once pis Includes information on 
siring variables and functions: IBM PC DOS- numerical variables 
and anihrneuc, expressions, sound effects, medium resolution 
graphics, loops and subroutines, oar graphs, animated graphics 
Prent»ce- Ha 11 Our price $27.10. Save $2.20 



Handbook for Your IBM PC (includes XT version) 
Louis E. Freozel & Louis 6. Frenzel. Jr. 

Experienced users will find! il a bandy reference, with a concise 
summary of key operational information and as a source book of 
information aPout non^lflM accessories. Begtnners will find il 
siep-by-gu'de to using the computer and a source lor "what to 
do and how to do it H ' 
Sams Our price $35 15 Save $2.85 



The IBM PC Connection James W. Coffron 

Fiom Ihe author ol the popular Apple, Connection, VC-20 
Connection and Z30 Applications, this book shows how easy it is 

10 use your computer with common household devices Explains 
techniques for selling up your I0M to control a home security 
system, home lemperaiure control system, voice synthesizer to 

make your computer talk, as well as Other home appliances. 

. r . ■ fUur price $ 55.45 . Save $4.50 

Data File Programming on your IBM PC 

Alan Simpson 

■ njj me techniques for writing BASIC programs lor mailing 
hst systems, grade books, library referencing system, graphic 
disoliivs Covers adding liles, searching^ sorting, editing and 
prmling formatted reports. 

S > t . . - Our price $ 55 .45 . S a ve $4.50 

Your IBM PC Made Easy Jonathan Sachs 

Covers the fundamentals and details major features ol the 
system, including coverage ol DOS 2.0 and the PC XT Step-bv- 
step operating instructions, and a guide to resources — what 
you need to fcnojw about dealers, software, services and 
accessories Reference guide to operations and troubleshooting 
lor common problems 
Osborne.' McG r aw ■ HjH 

Our price $29.55. Save $2.40 



Apple 



Getting Started With ProDOS 

B. M.Peake&D. Rorke 

Aimed at Apple If and He users, this is intended 'or someone 
familiar with ihe existing Appte DOS 3 3 systems 
Comprehensive guide to ProDOS, with exercises lor practice 
Reference section goes over commands and comments on their 
use, and there is a discussion Ol the advantages and 
disadvantages ol the svstem A list ol further references is 
included 
Blue water Press Our price $6.45. Save 50 cents 

Applesoft Basic: A Teach-Yourself Introduction 

B. M, Peaks 

Second edmon revised lo cover the Apple II Plus and lie A 
manual for New Zea lenders to learn BASIC with ihe Apple. 
instead ol picking information from two or three sources includes 
model answers Enpuines lor class sols welcome 
Mcmdoe Our price $12.90, Save $1 .05 

Fun, Games & Graphics for the Apple II. lie & He. 

Paul Garrison 

Collection of more than 75 ready-to-run programs which you 
can use. study, modify, combine and experiment with. Complete 
listings written m standard Applesoft BASIC and CP/M-supported 
BASlC-SO, and explanations More than 20 financial and record- 
keeping programs, and a wealth of graphics and education 
programs, a word processing i. ogram and some small-scale 
database piograms 
tab Our price $39.75. Save $3.20 



Games 



Arcade Games for Your VlC-20 

Brett Kale 

A 15 year-old whuj kid from Victoria, Australia has pui together 
a collection of 20 arcade games tor the unexpanded VIC- 20. AH 
programs listed twice — once lor straightforward keyboard play, 
and once lor use with a toy stick Ail games extensively play 
tested Selection includes Galaxy Robbers. Yackman, Sub 
Attack, Fantasy. Pinball, Indi 2000, Leap** .ind Bullet Heads 
Corgi Our price $10 10 Save 95 cents 



Tim H art n ell's Giant Book of Spectrum Games 

More than BO programs covering fust about every sort of game 
imaginable — arcade action, mind benders, chance and skill, 
adventure, space, board and card, tun, simulations. And lhere 
are uiility and demonstration programs, games to convoM notes 
on error trapping and a glossary 
Collins Our price $13.85, Save $1.10 



The Big Fat Book of Computer Games 

Tim Hartneli 

Coniams 34 games wntten m the most general lorm of BASIC, 
makmg them suitable lor mosl computers Includes board. 
adventure and space games- bram teasers, simu'tations — and 
some just for fun Spread over 389 pages, programs are clearly 
printed and accompanied by noies 
Interface Our price $27,70. Save $2.25 

Virgin Computer Games Series 

Edited by Tim Hartneli 
Each book contains a se'cciion ol more lhan 20 games which 
allow vou to honn- ptpgi immir ; ■ s as well as nave pie my of 
lun Contains bnel dictionary ol comoulef reTn-s, oihhcgrapny 
and nmts on how to improve and extend some of the programs 

Commodore 64 edition $ 1 1 .05. Save 90 cents 
Spectrum, IX 81, TRS-80, VIC 20. Oric, 
Dragon, Atari, BBC editions $8.30. Save 75 
cents 

Atari 600XL edition $14,75. Save $1,20 

Tim HartneH's Giant Book of Computer Games 

More than AD games companrjie Wiih Microsoft BASIC able io 
run on most micros, including BBC. VlC 20, Oric, Apple Ik and 
tie, Commodore 64. Dragon 32, Tandy Color, IBM PC. Laser, 
TRS-80, PET, MZSQK and Spectrum Range covers board, dice, 
space, bram and adventure games, simulations, artificial 
intelligence, and some |ust for lun 

Collins Our price $ 1 3.80. Save $1.15 



Commodore 64 



Cracking the Code on the Commodore 64 

John P. Gibbons 

Introduction to 6510 instruction set and how to combine the 
elements of machine code jnto commercial-style speed Full 
machine code monitor with 14 commands gives you the lools to 
interface wtih the 64 's architecture Learn good programming 
praclice and trade tricks while using the sprite, sound and hires 
graphics, and get 10 grips with interrupt handling for multiple 
sprites and smooin screen scrolls 
Pan Our price $24.95. Save $2.00 

Arcade Games for Your Commodore 64 Brett Hale 
Fifteen-year old Victorian whi*; kid, Brett Hale has put 

together a collection of 1 2 extensively play-tested arcade 
games which are in BASIC and can be modified. Each is listed 
twice - for keyboard and joystick. Includes Tick. City Terror, 
Bricklayer and Surface Lander. 

Corg i Our price $10.15, Save 8 ce nts . 

Getting the Most From Your Commodore 64 

Simon Potter 
Uses diagrams, colour photographs, programs and examples 
to introduce you to the machine. Moves from starting through 
writing programs to graphics and sound, printers, disks and 
extras and troubleshooting. 

Penguin Our price $12.90, Save $1.05 

Commodore 64 Machine Language Tutorial 

Paul Blair 
Get to grips with the intricacies of machine language 
programming, nelping you overcome Ihe demanding, exacting 
and sometimes exasperating requirements Bui master il and 
tasks such as soiling, searching and some graphics become 
much quicker Judicious use of machine language also allows 
you io use larger and more complex programs Demon si rati on 
program provided. with, examples ol shoM machine language 
routines 

Hoit-Saunders Our price $55,45, Save 4.50 - 

Save $4,30 
Book & cassette $50,85. Save $4.10 

Brainteasers for the Commodore 64: 

Programs to Puzzle & Amuse G Ludinski 

Collection ol programs built around competiiion. You are asked 
Questions reguiring logic, general knowledge and mathematical 
skills. Only your quick answers can save the woman on the 
railway track, escape with true bank takings, break open a sate 
Only your powers of deduction can solve the who-dunnit. work 
out the wiring on the robot, catch the car thiol. All programs 
exploit machine's graphics capabilities and many con (am an 1Q 
.rating at the end. 
Phoenix Our price $22.15. Save $1.80 

First Steps in Machine Code on Your C64 

Ross Symons 

Clear, concise explanation ol machine code — introduction lo 
ihe disassembler and its use; instructions for the 65 TO enjp wiin 
the aid of a demonstration program; discussion ol Ihe kernel 
opera Img svstem and its applications such as priming, 
inout/outpui devices and scanning ihe keyboard Two complete 
machine code games snow you how to create your own high 
speed, animated arcade-like games 
Corgi Our price $12.00. Save 95 cents 

Data Handling on the Commodore 64 Made Easy 

James G a ten by 
Data processing — sorting raw I acts to produce uselul 
information — can be jusl as rewarding as playing games. 
Explains how to use the Commodore 64 to process information 
for the home and small business Uses straightforward examples 
lo demonstrate storage of large quantities ol data, attractive and 
readable on-screen display, and searching and pnnt-outs. 

Granada 

Our price $20.30. Save $1.65 



Commodore 64 Machine Code Master: a library 
of machine code routines David Lawrence 

& Mark England 
Provides lull listing and explanation of Commodore 64 master 
code assembler, then offers a collection of tested machine 
code routines to extend C64 BASIC with mora than a dozen 
new commands. All routines fully explained, providing an 
introduction to a wide range of programming techniques and 
ways in which the C64 ROM can be used to best advantages 
by the machine code programmer. 
Reston Our price $ 24. 1 5 Save $1.35 

Better Programming for Your Commodore 64 

Henry Mulllsh & Dov Kruger 

For I nose wanting to push (he 64 to OS lull poteniial and improve 
their Own program mm g techniques. After gelling reader star led 
on BASIC, the book looks at structured programming, numeric 
functions and logical operators, character string manipulation, 
arrays, nesting loops, audio-visual program enhancement, and 
debugging Includes more men 90 programs 
Foniana Our price $16,65. Save $1.30 

The Commodore 64 Experience 

Mike Dean Klein 

f ne many and varied uses ol a home computer . . programs lor 
the home [recipes, snooping, phone books r kitchen metrics, 
Budgetings, educalion programs I maths, geography, spelling, 
languages, graphics!, entertainment programs, business 
programs I appointments, cash Mow, interest, cheque books, 
inventory!, utility programs i sprite creation, character design, 
memory loader, saver and clear; disk menu, menu ideas! All 
programs can be modilied 
Reston Our price $41 .70. Save $3.40 

Commodore 64 BASIC Made Easy David A. & 
Marianne L. Gardner 
Hands-on guide to learning BASIC and forming good 
programming habits. You draw pictures, play songs, play 
Joystick games, draw and control Ihe animation sprite 
characters, produce a light show with colour and music. 
manipulate words, do arithmetic and store programs on disks 
or cassettes. Though a serious book, it sets to be fun to use. 
Prentice-Hall Our price $32.90. Save $2.70 

Basic Subroutines for Commodore Computers 

Eddie Adams 
Easy-to-use manual which offers access to more lhan 300 
BASIC subroutines — powerful building blocks you can combine 
a no adapt to create programs lor a wide range ol business, 
educational and personal applications Explanations for each 
subroutine with suggestions lor modifying it to vour needs Each 
prog* am is ieadv to fun on any Commodore system 
Wiley & Sons Our price $29.55. Save $2.40 

Commodore 64: Bask Programs in Minutes 

Stanley R. Trust 

Collection of versatile, ready -to- enter programs lor moie than G5 
home and busmess tasks on ihe Commorloro 5A Programs for 
home finances, business ca Icul atrons. real estate, data analysis 
record keeping and education No knowledge of BASIC 
programming needed to use programs which can be entered and 
ready to run rn less lhan 10 minutes 
Svbex 

Our price $37.30, Save $3,05 

How to Program the Commodore 64 — if you've 
never programmed a computer before 

Robert Young 

Alter an introduction to ino bits and pieces of the 64, you move 
to me process of learning to program on the keyboard. 
Concentrates on the key words and techniques to have you 
writing programs as quickly as possible, Ihen allows you to refine 
ihe process at your leisure 
interface Our price $21.20. Save $1.75 

How to Use The Commodore 64 Jerry & 

Deborah Willis 

introduction to the computer and its basic components, explains 

what the components do and how mey work together, stap-by- 

step instructions on setting up and installation, shows how to 

load and save programs on diskene or cassetes. tells how to type 

in, use and modify programs, presents other sources of 

information 

dihtnmm Press Our price $8.30. Save 65 cents 



Keyboarding 



Keyboarding for Information Processing 

Robert Hanson 

Enables a person 10 develop basic touch keyboarding skill in a 
minimum time. The person who completes the book will be able 
lo key in alphabetic, numeric and symbol mlormalion. input 
numbers on a separate 10- key pad, keyboard information 
quickly and accurately, understand some ol Ihe basic vocabulary 
used m keyboarding Can be used for classroom or individual, 
self- in struct ion 
Osborne fMcGraw Hill Our price $12.30, Save $1,00 

Quick Keyboarding Vonnie Alexander 

Sub-titled "Compeleni Keyboarding in 6 Hours", Ihis book by 
New Zealander Vonnie Alexander has a unique method for 
teach-yourself competent keyboarding A wall chart of fmger 
positions is included, 
Meihucn Our urico $7.35. Save 60 cents 



B.TS & BYTES - August 1985 - 73 



TH€ BITS G BVT€S BOOK CLUB 



Business 



Multtplan: Home & Office Companion 

Elna Tymes,$ Peter Antoniak 

Collection of models covering a broad spectrum of business and 
personal applications. personal finance, household 
management Ready- lo-use model described and accompanied 
by ihe Idling needed 10 CTeate [ha model and a sample printout-. 
Vou just replace the sample data with v our gwn As you become 
familial with Mulupran. me modelling techniques help vou create 
customised models. 
Osborne^ Mc Gra w>H ill 

Our price $36.95. Save $3.00 

Lotus 1-2-3 Simplified David Bolcan 

Designed (or all levels, it starts with installing and using Lolus 
1-2-3, then moves through designing and using spreadsheets, 
lor matting spreadsheets and making (hem aeslheticailv 
pleasing, generating printouts; working with oversized 
spreadsheets, graphics functions: data management; advanced 
spreadsheet applications and programming with macros, 
attractive presentation includes many diagrams end graphs 

TAB: Our price $31.70. Save $2.55 

Guide to Using Lotus 1-2-3 Edward M. Baras 

Dotailed, comprehensive guide 10 heJp you make lull use of 
Lolus 1-2— 3's integration of spreadsheet database and 
graphic functions Includes step-oy-slep instruction on 
implementing practical aooli canon models (Or financial 
forecasting, consolidating business statements. Simulating 
dynamic processes, electronic forms management Equally 
useful lo beginners and experienced users 
Osborne/ McG ra w-HH I Our price $38.80. Save $3.15 

Business Program Portfolio for your Apple lie; An 
I ntegraie d f f ice Sy s t e m G eorge H . H il d eb ra nd 
Collection ol 61 BASIC programs covering such on ice tasks as 
interest calculation, financial analysis, depreciation, property 
management and real estate, cash receipts and disbursements, 
tOb cost, payroll. All programs documented for implementation 
and modiiicaucin There is also guide to priming out business 
forms, creating a menu system, and securing business records 
wuh password programs. 

H ay don u r pr ice $51.75. Save $ 4 . 20 

On Line Computing for Small Businesses — 
Silver's Wall 
Maurice A. Silver John Jeacocke & Ray Wei land 

Sots out to pcoyido managers ot small businesses with a clear, 
concise bui n on -tech meat instruction m the use ol on-Jino 
computing based on the practical experience of the authors No 
pnor knowledge ol computing assumed and only essential 
technical definitions are included 
Pitman Our price $9.70. Save 70 cents 

Multtplan Made Easy (Macintosh ed) 

Walter A. Ettlin 

AH-n-one tutorial incorporating practical applications and 
skiUbuildmg exercises Covers everything from using basic Mac 
commands to formatting worksheets, building formulas, and 
using Mulliplan'sbuill-in functions. Fully illustrated lo display inn 
program's visual features. j^ jj 

Osborne 'McGraw-Hill 

Our price $34.20. Save $2.75 

The ABCsof 1-2-3 

Chris Gilbert & Laurie Williams 

Hands-on approach using detailed, step-by-step instructions 
Lessons involve tackimg protects such as building a worksheet, 
displaying the worksheet as a graph, building a database, 
simplifying several operations using macros, performing 
calculations and printing graphs and reports. Remains a handy 
reference once you are familiar wiih 1-2-3 
Sybex Our price $37.85. Save $3.05 

Doing Business With Multtplan 

Richard Allen King & Stanley R. Trost 

Quick, well sol out guide presenting more I han 20 accounting 
and management pfenning applications for the business user 
Each ts thoroughly described, and a complete template for 
selling up the application in MuFiipian presented Many usable 
"as is", others can be modified foi spec i Tic problems Covers 
record keeping, financial statement analysis, sales li nance 
manufacturing, master budgeting 

Sybex Our price $55.45. Save $4.50 

Taking Care of Business with your 
Commodore 64 David P. Dautenhahn 

More than 100 brief BASIC business and financial programs. 
each documented with a short explanation of what Ihe 
computer will do and a BASIC listing. A real-life scenario 
follows, with a sample run end instructions on how to 
combine two or more applications. Programs include; 
interest, depreciation, retailing, real estate, loan analysis. 
savings, lease analysis, time value for money, stocks and 
bonds analysis, sinking fund analysis, forecasting inventory 
needs, payroll, insurance, metric conversion, 
Haydcn Our price $35.60. Save $2.90 

1-2-3 Run: 41 ready-to-use Lotus 1-2-3 
Models Robert & Lauren Flast 

Collection ol models that run on Lotus- 1 -2-3. Eacn model 
presented with a step-by -step description,, complete listing, an 
illustration wrlh sample data tyou simply m place 1 his with your 
own! and. where applicable, instructions lo produce bar and line 
charts Designed to simplily work, ihe models include 
applications for sales, accounting, real estate and the classroom 
Osborne' McGraw-Hill Our price S3B.BQ, Save $3.15 



Databases for Fun and Profit 

Nigel Freestone 

For users wanting to do their own programming Provides 
straightforward introduction |o data processing, witr-. 
explanations of routines in BASIC Examples of system designs 
for home and business use, which you can combine and expand 
Systems 'or names and addresses, catalogue mde*, diary, stock 
control; bank account/budgeting, debtors hsti'sale; purchase 
tedger, payroll 

Granada Our price $18.45. Save $1.50 

Microsoft Word Made Easy 

Paul Hoffman 

Spells out what the business person needs to know ip get the 
rrtosl from Microsoft Word which runs on many personal 
Computers, mcludrng the IBM PC. AT and T63QQPC and 3B 
Seties. 3nd Ihe Tandy 2000 Covers all basic functions and 
describes each option, wMh instructions on glossaries, style 
sheets and windows, tips on the mouse, and using mail-merge 
Practical examples include screen shots and illustrations. 
Osbor ne.i McG ra w-H 1 1 1 

Our price $34.20, Save $2.75 



Language/programming 



LOGO: A Language for Learning 

Anne Sparrow hawk 

Systematic introduction to the facilities and applications of 
LOGO, including a thorough anamination of "turtle 
graphics". Covers numbers, words and lists, and writing 
more complex programs. 
Pan Our price $24.95. Save $2.00 

An Introduction to Program Design 

Rod S. Burgess 
Deals with program design, particularly for data processing 
applications, using the Jackson structured programming 
technique. Examples of code are given in COBOL. BASIC and 
Pascal. Each chapter concludes with exercises, with 
solutions et the end of the book, 
Hutchinson Our price $24.95. Save $2.00 

Structured Programs in BASIC Peter Bishop 

Opens with a discussion ol program structure and desujn The 
rest of Ihe book comprises example programs, with me 
complete program design process Ifrom miiial specification to 
linal Irslmgf carried out Excellent source of programming 
techniques, algorhythms, program modules, ready-to-run 
programs and ideas 

Nelson Our price $25.65. Save $2,10 

MS-DOS User's Guide 

Paul Hoffman & Tamara Nicoloff 

Sets out to iamiiian.se you with MS-DOS m ail Us versions — IBM 
PC-DOS, and Versions 1 0, 1 1. 1 25. 2.0 and 2 1 Covers each 
compute/ running US- DOS, gives the version it runs and lists 
any improvements the manufacturer has made to the system 
Complete m lor mat ion on IBM PC-DOS. Information cm sollware 
that runs under MS-DOS and products available to enhance the 
system 
Osbomci'McGraw-H.ti Our price $41 .60* Save $3.35 

LOGO Anne Sparrowhawk 

Systematic introduction to the facilities and applications ol 
LOGO,, including a thorough examination of its famous "lurtte 
graphics" Explains She Fundamentals and suggests how the 
language can most profitably be exploited Explores command 
and syntax, and offers some tdeas and projects to which LOGO 
can be applied Plenty of programs to wort with 
Pan Our price $24.95. Save $2.00 

Armchair BASIC: An Absolute Beginners' Guide 
to Programming in BASIC 

Annie & David Fox 

Easily-followed introduction — you don't need a computer to 
learn Blends numerous examples and illustrations in a good- 
humoured explanation ol programming concepts Guides you 
through BASIC programming I unda mentals, shows how a 
computer can use your input lo produce uselul results, and 
presents a glimpse mto the computer luture 
Osbor ne'M cG raw- Hit I 

Our price $27.75. Save $2.20 



our own creativity . 

Osbornei 1 McGraw-Hill 



Our price $27.70. Save $2,25 



BBC 



The MBASIC Handbook 



Walter A, Ettlln 
& Gregory Soiberg 

Concise, graduated tutorial to help you Duild programming skills 
Tor use in business, education and personal appkcalions. Covers 
MBASIC tools; describes siatements r functions, commands and 
operators, works wish loops, strings, arrays and subroutines, 
sequential and random access files, debugging and 
documenting programs Includes five lully documented business 
programs which can be customised 
Osborne- McG raw Hill 

Our price $40,75. Save $3.30 

Play LOGO: An Invitation to Computing for 
Parents and Child re n J oh n C u n I if f e 

Anyone who can operate a television set and a typewriter 
keyboard should en|oy this book written for the young learner 
and the interested adult. Tells how to choose a computer lor 
LOGO, how to write your own programs, and suggests projects 
and puzzles. Attractive format and easy to follow 
Andre Deutsh Our price $16.20- Save $1.30 

Using Mac Write and MacPaint 

Tim Field 

Easily-read format to customising your Mac, text highlighting, 
formula writing, painting, report production, correspondence, 
graphics design Abundant illustrations and plenty ol scope lor 



Handbook of Procedures & Functions for the BBC 
Micro 

Audrey & Owen Bishop 
Variety ol procedures anrj functions mat can be used with 
programs of all types Description of what each does, followed 
by a listing and an explanation of how it works Example ot a 
catling program showing how io incorporate each procedure oi 
function into your programs 

Granada Our price $25.90. Save $2.05 

Exploring Music With the BBC Micro & Electron 

Kevin Jones 

Explores creative ways of using the computers to make 
music. Shows how to generate sounds, and combine sound 
characteristics and rhythms. Covers wide range of styles — 
pop, folk, classical and modern. Examines many musical 
ideas and techniques. 
Pitman Our price $36.00. Save $2.35 



Getting the Most From Your BBC Micro 

Clive Williamson 
Introduction intended to complement the User Guide supplied 
with the machine. Contains many hints and tips on 
programming end general use. Explores many possible uses 
and the computer's potential for expansion to suit individual 
needs- Some features and accessories, undocumented in the 
User Guide, are investigated, with specific advice on 
connecting primers, TV monitors and disk drives. 
Penguin Our price $13.80. Save $1.15 



Spectravideo 



Games For Your Spectravideo 

Damon Piflinger & Danny Olesh 
More than 25 programs including Minefield,. Road Race. Star 
Strike , Towers of Doom and High Fighter. Plus a seties of 
graphic demonstrations and a chapter on making effective use of 
the Spectra video's sound 
Virgin 

Our price $12.90. Save $1.05 



Spectrum 



Practical Spectrum Machine Code Programming 

Steve Webb 

Designed for programmers who want to write taster and better 
programs than they can m BASIC Assumes vou have no 
knowledge of machine code and works through th._- details to i r ■-_* 
point where you are linking routines and using routines with 
BASIC programs Questions throughout io test progress. 
Virgin Our price $18.05. Save $1.45 

Adventures for Your ZX Spectrum 

Clive G if ford 

Six ready-to-run adventure games — Crash! Pearl Diver. The 
Ring of Power. TtVe Seven Keys ol Terkus h School's Out and 
Everyday Adventure - plus advice ph writing your own 
advenieres and a glossary and bibliography 
Virgin Our price S 1 3. 85. Save $1.10 

An Expert Guide to the Spectrum 

Mike James 

Practical introduction to the Spectrum's advanced hardware and 
software features. Aimed ot the user seeking a deepeT 
understanding of the machine and its caparjiluies Slaris with an 
inside view ol the micro. Ihen moves to B connoisseur's guide to 
ZSC BASIC and an introduction io the machine operating system 
Covers ZX video, tape system, RS232 interface, microdrive and 
advanced programming techniques. Complete program listings 
and projects for further exploration 

,,- m ..I • 

Our price $23.10. Save $1,85 
The Sinclair User Book of Games & Programs 
for the Spectrum 

Sixty games and programs Irom the Spectrum magazine, 
Sinclair User, protect your castle from invading soldiers m Sioge, 
test your three-dimensional sense m Labyrinth, improve your 
geography m Mapwork, face Ut Spec Trum on Wirnbludon's 
centre court; run vour own cricket test at lords; tump a clear 
round in Olvmpia. ptay noughts and crosses against rhe 
computer; sunk a submarine m Depth Charge; tackle a cratii 
typing course In Touch Type, 
Penguin Our price $12.90. Save $1.05 

Cracking the Code on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 

John Wilson 

Practical machine code programming q\n<it: allowing the user to 
harness the lull power of the Spectrum's hardware and escape 
the confines of BASIC Vou are introduced to ISO instruction set 
and learn lo combine the vanpus elomenis a! machine code "i 
commercial-like programs. Annotaled example programs allow 
you lo enter and use fast screen handling routines and sorts in 
your own programs, debug Ihem with ihe tiactr laeilnv end ruri 
ihem with the on-screen clock Covers ROM routines, interrupt 
handling and programming principles. 
Pan Our price $24.95. Save $2.00 



74 - BITS & BYTES - August 1985 



THE SITS & BVT6S BOOK CLUB 



SPACE 
ADVENTURES 

tor ttwVIC 30 




OUR AUGUST GIFTS 

Usually $7.95 each 
BUY this month at $6.95 



Beginners' BASIC Peter Lear 

Superbly presented introduction To BASIC Covers the 
essential material and lets you have plenty of fun in the 
process. Brilliant illustrations and layout make it extremely 
readable and easy to follow. 
Wingard-Hayes 




BEGINNERS' 





Fantastic Gam A (Commodore 64 & VJC-20 
editions) 

Introduction provides instructions on running the games and 
the book ends with a section on how games are made. In 
between are Speedboat Logger. Haze Maze, Getaway, Sub 
Attack end Snail's Trails. 
Wingard-Hayes 

Space Adventures (Commodore 64 & VIC-20 
edition si 

Introduction provides instructions on running the games and 
the book ends with a section on how games are made. In 
between are Mconshutile, Meteor Shower. Protector. Alien 
Attack, Red Alert and Invasion - with a couple ol sections 
explaining data end read statements, 
Wingard-Hayes. 



21 Games for the Acorn BBC Micro 

Mike James. S.M. Gee and Kay Ewbank 
Collection of games programs specifically written to exploit 
the BBC's sound, colour and graphics capabilities, and learn 
BASIC programming skills as you go. Each game comes with 
an explanation of how its program works, along with tips on 
how to modify or personalise it to create veriafons. 
Prentice-Hail Our price $ 37 ♦ 1 5. Save $3. 00 

The Second Book of Machine Language 

Richard Mansfield 
Written for programming with Commodore 64, VIC- 20. Atari, 
Apple and PETfCBM computers, this book contains the 
powerful LAOS machine language assembler. As well as 
being a sophisticated program, the book is a tutorial on how 
large, complex machine language programs can be 
constructed out of manageable subprograms- Extensive 
documentation provided. 
Compute u r price $ 3 6 . 9 5 . Sa ve $ 3 . 00 

Assembly Language Programming for the Atari 
Computers 

Mark Chasin 
Routines follow the rules established by Atari for assembly 
language programmers and will work with any Atari 
computer. Examples given in both assembly language and, 
where possible, BASIC incorporating assembly language 
routines to perform tesks in BASIC. 
McGraw-Hill Our price $41 .60. Save $3.35 

M aste ring th e Comm odo re 64 Peter Vernon 

Covers using [he 64 for everything fjom games to finance 
management. You can create visual displays, graphs and 
games, and enhance them with sound and music. You enter 
the Commodore BASIC world and end up programming. 
Prentice-Hall Our price $44.25. Save $3,60 

Your IBM PC Made Easy (includes IBM PC (DOS 
2.0) and PC XT) Jonathan Sachs 

Covers the fundamentals and details the major features, 
Step-by-step operating instructions and e guide to resources 
telling you what you need to know about dealers, hardware, 
software, services and accessories. There's etso a reference 
guide for operations and troubleshooting common problems. 
McGraw-Hill Our price $29,55. Save $2.40 

Kids and the Apple Edward H. Carlson 

Written lor 10- 14 year-olds bur suitable for anyone interested 
In BASIC programming. Everything explained in non-technical 
terms, with many illustrations and examples, and notes 
before each lesson. Covers error messages, debugging 
techniques, programming shortcuts, saving origrems to disk. 
Compute Our price $35.60. Save $2.90 

Computers and Young Minds 

Gary Clark 

Series of assays to introduce you to the use of computers in 
schools based on the author's experiences in the classroom, 
Discusses the teaching of computer theory using one 
computer in a classroom, best methods of instruction, 
Designed for both parents and teachers, 
fleston Our price $28.55. Save $2.30 

How to Excel on Your Atari 6QQXL & 300XL 

Timothy 0* Knight 
Chapters on programming, graphics, sound and music in 
straightforward terms. All key terms defined, and meny 
accompanied by illustrations- Suggests many uses for 
business and fun, 
McGraw-Hill Our price $25.85. Save $1.90. 



Our new 
selection 



The Colour Coded Guide to Microcomputers 

Arthur God man 
Describes how to use computer at both a simple and 

advanced level. Outlines how a computer works, the 
principles of the use of machine code and methods of 
translating Irorn BASIC to machine instructions. Choice of 
four levels - you want to understand programming in BASIC 
and write simple programs; you want to write more difficult 
programs in BASIC and unravel complicated programs; you 
want to understand how a microcomputer works without too 
much description; you want a simple explanation of how a 
computer works, especially with peripherals. 
Mac-Donald Our price $20,30. Save $1 .66 

(paperback) 
$38.80. Save $3.15 (hardback) 

Using the Commodore 64 in the Home 
Hank Librach & Bill L Behrendt 
Programs to automate cheque book records; make sense of 
loans; track family nutrition; make moths, geography and 
English fun: let you be a wildlife warden; track pirates and 
arsonists; fly a plane; invade a demon's lair; conduct a 
symphony orchestra. 
Pren tice Hall u r p rice $ 30 . 40. Save $ 2 ,45 



Computer Bits and Pieces 

Geoff Simons 
This compendium of curiosities is en informative, amusing 
and entertaining - and somewhat disturbing — account of 
the wide-ranging activities of computers . . . their uses in 
science and research, creativity, transport, industry, offices 
and administration, medirine. and health, monitoring the 
environment, education and training, games and 
entertainment, the home, and the future. 
Penguin Our price $ 1 1 .95 . Save $1,00 

The club: how it 
works and what you 
get 

All you have to do to join the cfub is 
buy a book. Just pick out the books you 
want, fill In the coupon in the middle of 
the magazine, and post it in FREEPQST* 

We offer savings on the cash price you 
pay for each book 

Please allow two or three weeks for 
orders to be processed and the book 
distributors to get the books to you. 



Compute's Second Book of Commodore 64 
Games 

Sixteen new worlds to explore . . , from photographing, the 
Loch Ness monsler to running a presidential campaign ... to 
test your strategy, skill and knowledge. All reaov to «ype in 
and play. Also articles on writing text adventure games end 
designing video games, end special-purpose programs to 
guarantee error-free program entry. 

Our price $35,60. Save $2.90 

Pascal: A Considerate Approach David Price 

Clear explanetions of programming techniques, combined 
with many short, sample progrems, Emphasis is on 
considerate programming, end approach to writing programs 
which are easy to read and modify. More problems end 
exercises in this revised edition. Covers data types, input and 
output, functions and procedures, testing end debugging, file 
handling. 
Prentice-Hall Our price $37.15. Save $3,35 

40 Educational Games for the VIC-20 

Vince Apps 
Programs designed to help younger family members handle 
the VIC-20 and increase their general knowledge. Uses 
variety of games aids such as heat the clock, slop the 
hangman, race the bujjer. Subjects include geography, 
languages, mo I he ma tics and science. Hints included to show 
how programs can he changed as skills improve, 
Grariari.i Our price $20.30. Save $1 .65 

Here Come the Clones: The Complete Guide to 
IBM PC Compatible Computers. 

Melody IMewrock 
Explains which compatibles run what and which are 
hardware compatible, where the differences in design are 
critical, how the clones compare in overalf performance, why 
some are and some ere not real bargains, and where the 
hidden costs lie. 
McGraw-Hill Our price $48.95. Save $4.00 

Which Peripherals? How to choose them, how to 
use them ;i - ^ 

Piers Letcher 
Sets out to help Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC. Atari, 
VlC-20 r Electron. Dragon. Oric h Sinclair QL and Amstrad 
owners discover their needs and how best to fulfil them. 
Comprehensive guide to available add-ons, what works with 
what micro and the art of getting the best peripherals. TeHs 
how to design a complete integrated system. 
Chapmen & Hall Our price $23.00. Save $1.95 

Microcomputers in Real Estate: The New Sales 
Advantage 

James E.A. Lumley 
Down-to-earth, readable explanation of what a computer can 

do for a business. Working salesman reviews search, 
mortgage analysis, accounting, sales management, property 
management, investment analysis end word processing. Plus 
plenty of tips on when and how to computerise. 
Prentice Hail Our price $45. 75. Save $ 3. 70 

Design of User-Friendly Programs for Small 
Computers 

Henry Simpson 
Systematic approach to designing and developing user- 
friendly programs that are easy to learn, easy to use and 
unlikely to cause operator errors. Practical, proven guidelines 
and principles. Tells how to display information, test operator 
inputs and provide methods of "fiiendly" program control. 
Also looks at selecting hardware, writing user documentation 
and help screens, testing and debugging programs, and 
influencing users to accept them. 
McGraw-Hill Our pri ce $ 48 * 00< Sa v e $ 3 9 5 . 

SITS & BYTES - August 19A5 - 75 



CinSSIFI€DS 



FOR SALE: Franklin Ace 1000 complete with 
Disk Drive, monitor and CPSD Type t printer 
(the latter unused) Rest as new. T. Dodgshun, 
9R.D« Waimate. Phone Glenavy 884, 

ARE YOU IN TO WIN?: Thoroughbred race 
selections using a 1 6/48 K Spectrum. Send SIS- 50 
to: DESIGNER SOFTWARE P.O. Box, 426, 
Ash burton, 

TRS80/SYSTEMS 80 users. Public domain 
software available. Also superb invoicing 
program for business users. Free sample. Send 
disk with drive specs to: P.O., Boy 3D, Waihi 
Beach South. 



FOR SALE: Dick Smith Cat Computer (Apple 
compatible, 91%). Great for person with access 
to Apple Software. Includes Chinnon disk drive 
& TV Modulator. 51,300 Paul Famularo, 142 
South Rd, Masterton. 

FOR SALE: "Stellar Triumph" game tape for 
Commodore 64- 8 Preset Games with option to 
vary each game. £12. G.N. Wilson, 24 Cairnmuir 
Cres, Cromwell. Phone 51016. 

WANTED TO BUY or borrow a Technical 
Manual for a System SO Blue Label computer. 
AJ- Brown, 24 Browning St, Cambridge, 

FOR SALE: Challenger JP, sound generator and 
TV modulator. Ph 56-343 Christchurch. 



BORROW OR SWAP: Software for the C64. 
Contact David: Ph 693-002, Mt Roskill, 
Auckland. 

PERIPHERALS: Quality printers, drives, drive 
cases & monitors at warehouse prices brand new 
& guaranteed, SAE to COMSEC, P.O. Box 30, 
Waihi Beach South. 

SANYO 555 MS DOS 128k computer with twin 
disk drives. Software includes WordStar, 
CalcStar, InfoStar, Spell Star, Mail Merge. Plus 
SANYO monitor, must be a bargain at $2990, 
for this near new package. PHONE 444-121 or 
write PO BOX 2053 NAPIER. 

FOR SALE: Digital Equipment 72" cabinets. No 
sides. Also 2 ASR33's suitable for home use. 
Prints are available if required. Write P.G BOX 
25-221 Christchurch. 

FOR SALE; Keyboard, 90-plus keys, numeric 
keypad and function keys with interface board if 
required. Ph 56-343 Christchurch. 

FOR SALE BBC Disc Drive 4O0K 80 track plus 
D.F.S. Rom. S450 ono. Rangiiikei College. 
Phone 7024 Marton. 

APPLE UE WANTED - prefer 128K DD2 and 
primer if available, as part payment on any one 
of a range of used cars. Please phone to exchange 
details — Auckland 766-215 business, 688-206 
private. 



SfiNTO 

From page 54 



Advertiser index 










After-Hours Software 
Auckland Micro Show 
Auckland University Bookshop 




59 
14 
69 


Mitsui 

Molymerx 

Monaco Distributors Ltd 


19 

49, 64 

71 


AVM Electronics 
AWA 




28 
45 


N.CR. 
Nashua Disks 


4 
66 


Bits & Bytes 
Bondwell 


53, 


56 
2 


Otakou Software 


33 


Business Electronics 




54 


PC Power 


63 


Commodore Computers 


13, 


61 


Paul Shearer 
Progeni 


8 
20 


Compumedja Systems 




11 


Computer Game Rentals 
Computers for People 


62, 63, 


62 
70 


Reed Methuen Publishers 


68 


Concord Communications 
Control Microcomputers 
Custom Computers 




68 
57 

51 


S.D. Mandeno 
Searle Electronics 
Silkwood Manufacturing 


52 
70 
50 


Dick Smith Electronics 




9 


Software Supplies 
Southmark Electronics 


55, 70 
15 


E.G. Gough 
Einstein Scientific 




29 

35 


Supatech Electronics 
Su pa tech Investments 


41 

48 


Fountain Marketing 




37 


Total Computer Services 
3M 


10 
65 


Genisis Systems 
Grandstand Computers Ltd 


23 
l/F, 1 


Verbatim 


25 


Hitec Micro 




B/C 


Warburton Franki 
Westbridge Computers 


2 

56 


Ice Clear 




32 


Whitehall Books Ltd 


69 


James Electronics 




58 






Kane Agencies 




62 






MCP Applications 
M.E.C. 




l/B 
31 


Subscribe 




ML Systems 
Manukau Computers 


12 


44 

, 21 


today 




Maxell 




6 






Micro Software Hire 




60 






Microstyle 




46 







Delightful 
graphics 



Also supplied is Sanyo's own BASIC 
interpreter which has some really 
delightful graphics capabilities. I've 
fallen in love with the Sanyo SYMBOL 
command. Microsoft and IBM should 
take a close look at the Sanyo graphics. 

One sad point is that Sanyo didn't see 
the need to implement Sanyo BASIC on 
the 775 or on the video board. These 
two items come with GW BASIC which 
afso has some unique features — check 
the SHELL command. 

Various screens are available for the 
Sanyo - green, amber and colour in low 
or high resolution. 

The supplied manuafs can be 
somewhat lacking and some examples 
quoted don't work. Unfortunately the 
manuals detract from an otherwise 
brilliant machine. 

We will look progressively deeper into 
the Sanyo and its capabilities. Readers' 
comments and questions are welcome 
and, where space permits, we will try to 
include such items. 



BBC 



From page 58 

environments and the slow sampling 
times that can result from even quite 
adequate illumination. It also needs very 
accurate focussing and positioning of 
the image, a task only adequately 
attainable on the basic equipment after 
considerable care. You would also want 
a range of lenses. The standard one we 
worked with had an excellently narrow 
field of view for some uses (confined to 
about two A4 sheets 14ft away},but 
would be disastrous for other 
applications. 

Without doubt, there are some areas 
where the system might prove its worth. 
These need to involve slow sampling 
speeds, low resolution and highly 
predictable lighting conditions however. 
The EV1 gives a good experimental entry 
to image analysis systems if you just 
want to hack around a small system. If 
you want to experiment widely and 
practically though, you would be better 
off going for a video-camera-based 
system. 

soFTUunne ircvrcw 



Hi-xwwMMM* 



76 - BITS fit BYTES - August 1 985 



From Page 33 

and power it will be reviewed separately. 
The Otakou programs can all be copied 
to allow for back-ups and use on more 
than one machine in the same location. 
The ficensing agreement is liberal, and 
avoids restricting the use of the software 
by foolish "protection"'. The manuals 
are well produced and printed on good 
quality paper, and spiral bound with 
attractive covers. The programs are of 
outstanding quality and represent some 
of the best value ever in software. I 
strongly recommend them. 






MC-P APPLICATIONS 



MC-P APPLICATIONS 




WHY PAY MORE 
COMPARE OUR PRICES 



SOFTWARE 



HARDWARE 



■ ■ ■ 


SPREADSHEETS 






Multiplan 


$ 525,00 




Open Access 


$1220.00 




Lotus 1-2-3 


$1234.00 




Symphony 


$1732.00 




DATABASES 






Friday 


$ 495,00 




Quickcode 


$ 575.00 




dBase II 


$ 870,00 




Condor 3 


$1165,00 


7L 


Knowledge Man 


$1175,00 


r^ 


dBase 111 


$1363.00 


^1 


Revelation 


S1 600.00 




WORD PROCESSORS 




k— j 


P.F.S. Write 


$ 355.00 


"■ 


Wordstar 


$ 610.00 


^ 


Microsoft Word 


$ 800.00 




MultiMate 
UTILITY 


$1275.00 


Peter Norton Utility 


$ 215.00 




Sideways 


$ 155,00 


■ ■ 


COMMUNICATIONS 






PC Intercom 


$ 371.00 


i ■ 


Crosstalk 


$ 499.00 


3 


HP VDte 2 
TRAINING 


$ 524.00 




MultiMate Training 


$ 195.00 


iii 


dBase II Training 


$ 175.00 




Advanced Lotus 1 -2-3 


$ 225.00 



MONITORS and COMPUTERS 



SCREENS 






Taxan — Green 


$ 


432.00 


Taxan — Amber 


S 


446.00 


Taxan Colour with graphics board 




$2955.00 


Microvitec High Resolution 






Colour graphics 




$2279.00 


COMPUTERS 






IBM PCG 




CALL 


IBM PC XT 




CALL 


IBM PC AT 




CALL | 



EXPANSION CARDS 




ORCHID PC Turbo Incl. daughter 




board — gives 640K in one slot 


$3460.00 


ORCHID Blossom Multifunction card 


$ 837.00 


Qubie 6PakPlus Multifunction card 


$ 925.00 


AST Short Memory Card 


$ 740,00 


Comway Piggy back Plus 


$ 520.00 


MEMORY 




64K Memory Upgrades 


$ 55.00 


256K Memory Upgrades 


$ 160.00 


8087-2 Co Processor 


S 823/00 


8087-3 Co Processor 


$ 540/00 


80 287 Co Processor (for AT) 


$ 975,00 


COMMUNICATIONS 




AST 5251/11 Local 


$2975-00 


ASTS,N.A. 


$2297.00 


CXI 3278/79 Coaxial Modem 


$2842.00 


IRMA 


$3116,00 


IRMAPRINT 


$3300.00 


GRAPHICS 




Comway Mono Graphics 


$ 955-00 


Hercules Mono Graphics 


$1200.00 


Col-Mon Colour Graphics Adapter 


$ 170.00 


Comtronics Mono/Colour Combo Card 


$ 957,00 


Comway Colour Graphics 


$ 664.00 


Comway Colour Card 


$ 714.00 


DISK DRIVES 




Tandon Disk Drive 360K 


$ 625.00 


1 OMh Intprnal Drivp 


$3250.00 
$7325.00 


1 \J IVl L' 1 1 1 L C- 1 1 1 LJ.I L_/ 1 1 V C- 

20Mb External incl. back-up 


NETWORKING 




Santa Clara PC Terminal 256K 


$4167,00 


Diskless Boot Prom 


$ 259.00 


PC-Net Starter Kit 


$2943.00 


Additional Stations 


$1352.00 


NoveJI Netware Operating System 


$3445.00 



Corporate, Dealer, and Government 
Enquiries Welcome 



SPECIAL OFFER THIS MONTH ONLY 

Fully configured 

1 0Mb 704K System with 

Graphics and Database $1 1 ,1 35 

MC-P Applications 

First Floor 

10 O'Connel Street 

AUCKLAND 


Prices: Subject to Change 
Terms: Nett Cash 7 days from 

receipt of goods 
Delivery 
Costs: Extra 

P.O. Box 5056 
Wellesley Street 
AUCKLAND 
Telephone: (09) 34-545 


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